Turkey warns Iran against helping PKK

ANKARA [MENL] -- Turkey has suspended military cooperation with Iran until it halts aid to Kurdish insurgents.

Officials said the suspension came after Teheran did not respond to an appeal for a joint effort against members of Abdullah Ocalan's Kurdish Workers Party. Ocalan was sentenced to death last week and Turkey has been trying to follow its conviction of the PKK leaders with an international effort against Kurdish terrorism.

Teheran has accepted PKK members who were driven out of Syria last year, officials said. They said Ankara now wants Iran to expel the estimated 1,000 Kurdish insurgents and shut down their facilities.

The officials said Turkish representatives will meet with the Iranian counterparts to discuss the issue.

Meanwhile, the Italian Parliament is expected to convene a session this week to discuss Ocalan's death sentence and relations with Turkey. On Wednesday, an Italian court of appeals in Rome will decide on Ocalan's request for political asylum.

If the court approves the appeal the case would be sent to the Court of Human Rights to request the extradition of Ocalan to Italy.

On Sunday, a Turkish newspaper said Ocalan ordered his members not to launch attacks. "Show a peaceful approach, otherwise it will be bad for me," the Turkish daily Sabah quoted the PKK leader as saying.

On Thursday night, PKK attackers killed four civilians and a policeman in attacks Turkish security officials say were meant to retaliate against the death sentence.

Unidentified attackers hurled grenades and sprayed automatic fire at a Turkish cafe in the bloodiest attack in the country since a death sentence was imposed on Kurdish insurgent leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Turkish media reports said on Friday that the attack was in the town of Elazig in eastern Turkey. The NTV news said two assailants sprayed a cafe, killing four people who were inside.

The television reported a local official as saying the attackers fled and threw grenades in a nearby street before being killed in a shootout with police. In the shootout, five people were injured.

No group took responsibility for the attack. But Turkish law enforcement officials were quoted on Friday as saying that the Kurdish Workers Party, headed by Ocalan, was responsible.