The May 24-26 exercise is part of the Proliferation Security Initiative, a three-year-old US-led effort that aims to stop shipments of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, missiles and goods used to produce weapons of mass destruction, to terrorists and suspect countries.

The drills come at a time of deadlock in the international dispute over the nuclear programme of Iran, Turkey's eastern neighbor, which the US claims hides the secret development of atomic weapons.

The Turkish foreign ministry, however, underlined in a statement that the games, which were decided on last year, did not target any country.

The first phase of the event, codenamed Anatolian Sun 2006, will consist of a computer-simulated exercise and a naval exercise in the Mediterranean Sea off Turkey's southern coast, the Turkish general staff said in a statement.

The scenario for the second phase involves measures to stop a commercial vessel suspected of carrying goods that could be used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction, it said.

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