US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Ankara Saturday on the fourth leg of her weeklong Europe and Mideast tour.

At the airport, Rice met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who is scheduled to depart for a visit to tsunami-hit Southern Asia Saturday evening.

Rice is expected to talk with Turkish leaders on the strained relations over Iraq and, most recently, over Turkish criticism of US failure to heed Turkish concerns over tensions in the disputed Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

The top US diplomat's visit came against the backdrop of strong remarks by the Turkish military and government that have implied possible intervention in northern Iraq to stem what Ankara sees as Kurdish attempts to dominate Kirkuk at the expense of other residents of the ethnically-mixed city.

The criticism aroused tensions not only between Ankara and Washington but also between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds.

Jalal Talabani, one of the Iraqi Kurdish leaders, said Erdogan's remarks that Turkey would take its own measures to prevent chaos in the neighboring country were discomforting.

"If Turks claim their rights in Kirkuk, Arabs will be claiming theirs in Antakya and Kurds will do so in Diyarbakir," he said.

Several Turkish political parties and non-government organizations on Saturday staged a protest against Rice's visit to Turkey.

The protestors walked to the US embassy in Ankara and left a black wreath at the entrance of the embassy, chanting slogans and carrying banners of "US out of Iraq! Rice out of Turkey."

At least four protesters were detained by police.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is also in Ankara on Saturday to meet Rice.

It is Rice's first overseas trip after she was appointed US secretary of state last month.

(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2005)