Ankara: President Abdullah Gul warned Kurdish rebels on Thursday that Turkey's patience was running out after Turkish forces said they had repelled a guerrilla attack near the Iraqi border.
Ankara has massed up to 100,000 troops along the mountainous border before a possible cross-border operation to crush about 3,000 rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who launch attacks into Turkey from northern Iraq.
Iraqi, Turkish and US diplomats have stepped up efforts to avert a large-scale Turkish incursion but Gul said Turkey would not tolerate any more PKK attacks from Iraq.
"We are totally determined to take all necessary steps to end this threat ... Iraq should not be a source of threat for its neighbours," Gul said in Ankara.
"Although we respect the territorial integrity and unity of Iraq, Turkey is running out of patience and will not tolerate the use of Iraqi soil for the purpose of terrorist activities."
Public pressure on Turkish authorities to act has grown since rebels killed 12 soldiers last weekend. The PKK, branded a terrorist organisation by the United States, Turkey and the European Union, has said it captured eight soldiers.
"We are doing all we can, [we are] working with the Iraqi and Turkish governments to make sure the hostages are freed," Matthew Bryza, US deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, said.
Turkish security sources have confirmed a series of sorties by warplanes and ground troops since Sunday into Iraqi territory, although Ankara has said it still hopes diplomacy can stave off the need for a full-scale ground invasion.
An Iraqi team, led by Defence Minister General Abdul Qader Jasem and including members of northern Iraq's Kurdish administration, arrived in Ankara for talks which Turkish officials described as a last chance for diplomacy.
