Turkey 'determined' to defeat PKK

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The Turkish military has declared its "unshakable determination" to fight against terror and respond to attacks by Kurdish separatists.

The pledge comes amid a major build-up of troops and tanks on the border with northern Iraq, where Ankara says the militants have bases.

On Thursday, several areas close to the border in south-eastern Turkey were declared "temporary security zones".

Four soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in one of the zones overnight.

At least five other people were injured when Kurdish guerrillas detonated the bomb near the town of Siirt.

Attacks by the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been fighting for an ethnic homeland since 1984, have been increasing in recent weeks.

The Turkish armed forces have an unshakable determination in fighting terrorism and it is a solid truth that it will give the necessary answer to such attacks Turkish General Staff

Last month, a suicide bombing in Ankara, blamed on the group, killed eight civilians.

In the latest statement on its website, the Turkish army's general staff vowed to fight the separatists and called on all Turks to work together "to resist in the face of these terrorist actions" which threatened national unity.

"The Turkish armed forces have an unshakable determination in fighting terrorism and it is a solid truth that it will give the necessary answer to such attacks," it said.

Correspondents say the army appears to be calling for popular rallies against the PKK of the kind that were staged last month in Turkey by secular opponents of the Turkish government.

The military also criticised unnamed individuals and organisations, who it said used notions of democracy and freedom as a "screen" to defend the separatists' attacks.

"The time has come to see the real nature of these incidents," it said.

Turkey's main human rights organisations condemned the statement as dangerous, saying it could incite violence and make a target out of activists who defend the PKK.

Troop build-up

Ankara believes around 4,000 PKK members are based in northern Iraq, from where they are able to mount cross-border attacks.

Turkish troops have been on exercises in Cizre, near Iraq

The Turkish government has been frustrated by the reluctance of US and Iraq to crack down on the PKK, a group the US and EU brand as terrorists.

The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul says Turkey has sent thousands of its troops to the border in response, officially to prevent the PKK from crossing.

But there is much talk too of a possible major incursion into Iraq, our correspondent says.

On Thursday, Turkey's most senior general, Gen Yasar Buyukanit, stressed he would not proceed with incursions without approval from parliament.

The government, however, has said it would approve an operation if the general staff requests it.

Our correspondent says that although many Turks would argue such a move would be fully justified politically, most fear the military would be dragged into a quagmire.

Whilst a unilateral intervention might well win votes at the general election next month, our correspondent adds, analysts warn it would spell disaster for Turkey's relations with the US and EU in particular.