Nechirvan Barzani said in remarks to the press in the regional capital of Arbil that it is "not reasonable for a group to carry out attacks against a state and then return to our region."

He added that "this problem will not be solved by military measures. Experience demonstrates that."

On Monday, President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, warned the rebels based in Iraq's northern mountains to lay down their guns or leave the country.

Talabani said during a visit by Turkish President Abdullah Gul that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) "must become involved in political and parliamentary life instead of resorting to weapons, since using guns does wrong to Kurds and Iraqis."

The PKK is labelled a terrorist group by much of the international community. It took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 44,000 lives.

Ankara has often accused the US-backed Iraqi Kurds and their autonomous administration in northern Iraq of tolerating and even aiding the rebels from across the border with Turkey.