Officials said about 3,800 members of the Kurdish Workers Party were based in the Kandil mountains in northern Iraq. The PKK members were said to be operating in bases near the Iraqi and Iranian borders.

Another 2,300 PKK operatives have infiltrated Turkey from bases in northern Iraq. The military said the flow of insurgents accelerated over the last two years.

Military sources said PKK operatives have been bolstering defenses in northern Iraq in preparation for a Turkish invasion, Middle East Newsline reported. The sources said the PKK effort has been aided by the autonomous Kurdish government in Iraq.

"The PKK must be eliminated as a problem between Iraq and Turkey," Turkey`s special envoy to Iraq, Oguz Celikkol, said.

The General Staff has been pressing for an invasion of northern Iraq to eliminate PKK bases. On Thursday, Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said the military has been ready for such an operation since April.

"As military men, we are ready, but all military men need orders," Buyukanit said. "I can't send them [government] a written request, can I? What do they expect from me? Political authorities will determine the targets."

The pro-Islamic government of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan has not ruled out such an operation. Erdogan has called on the United States, which opposes a Turkish invasion, to eliminate PKK bases. The Bush administration has urged Turkish diplomatic efforts with the government in Baghdad.

"Our expectation from the United States and Iraq is to scatter and destroy the bases of the terrorist organization in northern Iraq," Erdogan said. "They either turn them over or send them elsewhere. We have to achieve results."