Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) spokesman Ahmed Denis said the admission showed the hollowness of Turkey's efforts to woo Muslim countries by portraying itself as a scourge of Israel.

"Turkey was always saying that Israel was backing the PKK to win the sympathy of Islamic countries and tarnish the reputation of the PKK in the minds of the Muslim Kurdish people," Denis told AFP in the Iraqi Kurdistan regional capital Arbil.

"But today they admitted that they are the ones who are being supported by Israel. The confession shows the bankruptcy of Turkish policy."

Turkish army chief General Ilker Basbug confirmed on Monday that troops had begun using Israel's Heron unmanned aircraft to monitor Kurdish rebel movements in neighbouring Iraq.

"In the past 10 days, we have started using our Heron systems... the surveillance systems we bought from Israel, in the north of Iraq," Turkey's Anatolia news agency quoted Basbug as saying.

The drones are being used "at a certain distance in the north of Iraq in coordination with the Americans," Basbug said, adding that the aircraft were operated "by our own personnel."

Turkish media had speculated that the drones were idle because Israeli operators left Turkey amid the crisis between the two countries over Israel's May 31 raid on Gaza-bound aid ships in which nine Turks were killed.

The PKK spokesman said the army chief's announcement showed the extent of Turkey's dependence on Israel and the United States to prosecute its 26-year-old war with the rebels.

"If Israel and America didn't support the Turkish government, they would not be able to fight the PKK for one hour," Denis said.

He said there was nothing new about the Turkish military using Israeli unmanned aircraft of one design or another. "For a long time Turkey has been using Israeli drones," Denis said.