The resolution approved by a large majority of parliamentarians on Wednesday, Oct. 17, allows the government to order cross-border operations in order to deal with an estimated 3,500 rebels from the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) that are based in mountainous northern Iraq.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has played down expectations of an imminent offensive, but the parliamentary approval provides the legal basis for NATO's second biggest army to cross the border as and when it sees fit for one year.

After the vote, the European Commission said it hoped Turkey would decide to respect the territorial integrity of Iraq.

"It is crucial that Turkey continues to tackle this problem through cooperation between the relevant authorities," commission spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy said. "The EU and Turkey have regularly reiterated that they remain committed to the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Iraq."

Erdogan said that parliament's decision does not mean an immediate incursion will follow.

"We will act at the right time and under the right conditions," Erdogan told his ruling AK Party on Tuesday.

Recent attacks on Turkey

Over the past few weeks, members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have staged renewed attacks on targets in Turkey from Iraqi territory. According to the Turkish government, over two dozens soldiers and civilians have been killed.

Both the EU and the United States have classified the PKK as a terrorist organization. The Turkish government estimates that there are around 3,500 Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

Despite the PKK's presence, the region is relatively peaceful and the US has expressed concerns that an attack would destabilize the last calm area in Iraq. US President George W. Bush said on Wednesday that the US was making it clear to Turkey that military action in Iraq would not be in Ankara's interest.

Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said his government was determined to halt the "terrorist activities" of the PKK on Iraqi territory. He also said the two nations needed to continue to talk, his office said in a statement.

Turkey threatens to withdraw support

The Turkish parliament's decision comes at a time of tension in US-Turkish relations. The US House of Representatives is considering a resolution to call the World War I mass killings of Armenians by Turkey's Ottoman Empire a genocide. Turkey has threatened to withdraw its logistical support for the war in Iraq, including use of a strategically important air base on Turkish territory, if the measure is approved.

In its quest for an ethnic homeland in southern Turkey, the PKK has been active since the early 1980s. Ankara attributes more than 30,000 deaths to the group's armed struggle.

"In the past several years, Turkey has conducted 24 cross-border military operations," Akin Birdal, human rights activist and a member of Turkey's parliament, told the Germany daily Frankfurter Rundschau. "None of them had lasting success. Why should the 25th time be different?"