ANKARA, Aug 16 (Saba) -- Turkey and the US have wrapped up talks on the use of Turkish soil to transfer American troops, arms and equipment out of Iraq by the August 31 deadline, President Barack Obama set last year, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

The pullout plans are proceeding despite high-level concerns about Iraqi troops readiness to defend the country on their own Turkey and the United States have increased the frequency of talks on the use of Turkish soil for the transfer of American troops, arms and logistics equipment out of Iraq, sources have said.

"There is no new request from Washington over the withdrawal process and the implementation is going on as it was before," Turkish Foreign Ministry sources told the Hurriyet Daily News Economic Review on Monday.

Some U.S. military equipment has already been transferred through Turkey since 2009 under an agreement that allows Turkeys Incirlik Air Base to be used by American forces as a "logistics hub."

There are reported plans to establish an aerial bridge between southeast Turkey and the base for the transfer of troops and equipment coming from Iraq. Since there are no plans to transfer heavy equipment through Incirlik, no new agreement is needed to carry out those plans, sources said.

Turkey insisted on a legal document in 2003 to outline the details of the transportation of military equipment to Iraq.

It is not yet clear whether the Americans will only use Turkish airspace and the Incirlik base or if they will also seek to transport heavy equipment overland during the withdrawal process.

When he took office in January 2009, Obama announced that the United States would end its combat mission in Iraq on August 31, 2010, retaining a transitional force of up to 50,000 U.S. troops to train and advise Iraqi security forces.

"By the end of August 2010, U.S. forces in Iraq will reduce the total amount of equipment in Iraq from 3.4 million pieces in January 2009 to a total of 1.2 million pieces," the White House said in its "Facts and Figures on Drawdown in Iraq" fact sheet released August 2
.
"Most of the troops and equipment are being transported out of Iraq through Kuwait, although Jordan and Turkey are also permitting transit," it said.

The pullout, however, has been controversial, with Gen. Babaker Shawkat Zebari, the commander of Iraqs military, warning again Wednesday that his army may not be ready to defend the nation until 2020.

According to the U.S. State Departments Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Consulate in Adana "anticipates an increased role in the event of a U.

S. military withdrawal from Iraq through Turkish territory," an August report on the U.S. mission in Turkey said.

Saba