US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who arrived here Tuesday night for a one-day visit to Turkey, is expected to hold talks with Turkish Prime Minister Toyyip Erdogan in the building later on Wednesday.

The protestors held anti-US banners and chanted slogans. They distributed a statement and then left peacefully.

Earlier in the day, a group of angry people also stood in front of the gate of the Foreign Ministry prior to talks between Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Powell.

The protestors threw eggs at security guards who tried to prevent the protest.

"Turkey is not for sale," they chanted, shouting "Murderer United States."

According to a poll conducted shortly before the outbreak of the war on March 20, 94 percent of Turks stood against the war.

Relations between the two countries have recently deteriorated since the Turkish parliament narrowly rejected a motion last month designed to deploy 62,000 US troops in Turkey to open a northern front in the Iraqi war.

Powell's visit to Turkey came after US and British forces met with stiff resistance from Iraqi troops and militia in southern Iraq.

Defying international opposition, the United States and Britain launched the war against Iraq under the pretext of disarming Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.

Iraq has denounced the invaders as "criminals" and "villains," while urging the international community to stop the "aggression" unconditionally.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2003)