Mehmet Esref Kizilay, handed over last week, is accused of killing a policeman in 1991. Germany had rejected a request for his extradition in 1998 on the grounds that Turkey had the death penalty on its books at the time.

The second militant, Mehmet Iltas, was wanted for suspected involvement in two attacks in Bingol province in 1991, one against a military post and the other on a minibus in which eight people were killed.

He was extradited in late September, the ministry said.

The Justice ministry described both men as members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

The two cases show that Ankara's efforts to seek the extradition of wanted PKK militants "have begun to yield results," the statement said.

Turkey has long accused European countries of tolerating PKK activities on their soil and failing to close down organisations affiliated to the group.

Ankara claims the PKK obtains much of its finances through drug trafficking, people smuggling, extortion and money laundering in Europe, where it has an extensive network.

Many Kurds were granted political asylum in western Europe, notably in the 1990s, when Ankara's heavy-handed policies against the Kurdish minority put its human rights record under the international spotlight.

Faced with mounting PKK violence, Ankara has threatened military action into neighbouring northern Iraq to crack down on PKK bases there if Baghdad and Washington fail to curb the rebels.

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