"They know very well that the incursion into another country's land is against international laws and a violation of the other country's sovereignty and this incursion would destroy the stability of the region," said regional government spokesman Jamal Abdullah.

The Turkish parliament voted earlier Wednesday to allow the government to send troops to neighbouring northern Iraq to crack down on Turkish Kurdish rebels based there.

The government motion seeking a one-year authorisation for one or multiple raids was approved by a vote of 507-19 in the 550-seat house.

It underlined respect for Iraq's territorial integrity and stressed that any incursion would solely target the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), accused by Ankara of using the region as a springboard for attacks across the border on Turkey.

"We are upset at the Turkish parliament's attitude," said Abdullah. "It is the parliament of another country and it is independent and it is built on democracy but we didn't think that this would be their attitude.

"We are sorry for this decision and we are very worried and they should deal with this problem with dialogue instead of using the military option."

The PKK has waged a bloody campaign for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

Turkey says the PKK -- blacklisted as a terror group by both the European and the United States -- enjoys freedom of movement in northern Iraq and is tolerated if not supported by the regional government, something the latter strongly denies.