"24-hour nightmare in Kirkuk," was the headline in the Radikal newspaper, whose commentator charged: "It is obvious that the promises were not kept."

To Turkey's alarm, US and Kurdish fighters took control of the northern Iraqi city without a fight Thursday after what they said was a popular uprising following the departure of troops loyal to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

But a commander of the Patriotic Union Kurdistan (PUK) said Kurdish fighters had been ordered to leave Kirkuk and should be out of the city Friday or Saturday.

The capture of the city rekindled fears in Ankara that the Iraqi Kurds might move towards independence and revive separatist ambitions among Turkey's own Kurds.

However, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Thursday he had won assurances from US Secretary of State Colin Powell that they would be driven out by US reinforcements.

Turkey has repeatedly threatened to intervene militarily in northern Iraq if Kurdish forces seized Kirkuk or Mosul, home to some of Iraq's largest oilfields.

Mass-selling newspaper Hurriyet complained that US forces should have stopped the Kurds from entering Kirkuk, with an editorial writer warning: "This American attitude is leading to a confrontation with Turkey."

Relations between the two NATO allies took a sharp turn for the worse last month when Turkey's parliament refused to allow US troops on Turkish soil for an attack on neighbouring Iraq.

SPACE.WIRE