Turkish PM Erdogan to meet army over PKK attacks

ANKARA, June 11 (Reuters) Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and top military commanders will meet tomorrow to discuss the security situation in the southeast following a spate of attacks by separatist rebels, a senior official said.

An official at the prime minister's office told Reuters today the meeting will also be attended by the military's chief of General Staff General Yasar Buyukanit, land forces chief General Ilker Basbug and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.

Tensions are high in Turkey after a series of deadly bombings and attacks against civilians and soldiers in recent weeks blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Turkey, a NATO member, has been increasingly exasperated by PKK attacks on its soil and by the failure of its ally the United States to tackle an estimated 4,000 rebels holed up in northern Iraq, despite repeated pleas.

Turkey has recently sent tens of thousands of troops, as well as tanks and other military equipment, to the border area. Turkey's top generals have urged the government, which faces a strong nationalist challenge in national elections next month, to authorise an incursion into northern Iraq.

The cross-border operation needs parliament's approval.

Financial markets are jittery over a possible incursion.

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the separatist movement launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

REUTERS KK BD1932