Turkey weighing land operation vs PKK in Iraq

"The option of a ground operation is on the table. Thetiming (of such an operation) and weather conditions areimportant," Babacan was quoted as saying.

Turkey has massed tens of thousands of troops along itsmountainous frontier with Iraq. It has already carried outseveral small-scale cross-border commando operations as well asaerial bombing raids against rebels of the outlawed KurdistanWorkers Party (PKK).

Earlier this month, Turkish warplanes bombed 70 PKK targetsinside Iraq in one of the biggest raids to date and PrimeMinister Tayyip Erdogan vowed to continue the cross-bordercampaign "until we win".

Traditionally, the Turkish armed forces step up operationsagainst PKK rebels inside Turkey in the springtime as themountain snows melt.

On Monday, the English language daily Today's Zaman, whichis close to Erdogan's government, said the armed forces wereplanning to mount a land operation into northern Iraq inmid-March that would deal "a final strike" against the rebels.

Turkey's current military campaign in northern Iraq tookoff after U.S. President George W. Bush agreed last November tostart sharing detailed intelligence with Ankara on PKKmovements inside Iraq.

Iraq has regularly said it was doing all it could to meetTurkey's demands to rein in PKK rebels on its soil, but urgedAnkara to use diplomacy to resolve the issue.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of nearly 40,000people since the group launched its armed struggle for anethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

Like Turkey, the United States and European Union alsoclassify the PKK as a terrorist organisation, though Ankara hasoften accused its allies, especially in Europe, of failing tocooperate in fighting the organisation.

"We are cooperating with the United States in the fightagainst terrorism," Babacan was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

(Writing by Gareth Jones, editing by Mary Gabriel)