"We have information that the terrorist organisation has suffered significant losses... and 124 of its members have defected," army spokesman General Metin Gurak told a press conference.

Six PKK militants were killed in security operations inside Turkey over the past week, Gurak said, adding that four others fled PKK camps in northern Iraq and turned themselves in to the Turkish authorities.

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

The army has stepped up operations against the rebels -- both inside Turkey and in northern Iraq -- since October 3 when militants crossing from camps across the frontier attacked a Turkish border outpost, killing 17 soldiers.

At least 25 militants were killed in a bombing raid targeting PKK hideouts in the Qandil mountains, a major rebel stronghold, on October 17, the army said.

Earlier this month, Turkey's parliament extended by one year the government's mandate to order cross-border military action against the PKK in northern Iraq, which has been in effect since October 17, 2007.

The United States has helped its NATO ally by providing intelligence on PKK movements inside Iraq.

Turkish officials estimate about 2,000 PKK rebels are holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq, where they allegedly enjoy free movement and obtain weapons and explosives for attacks in Turkey.

Ankara has often accused the Iraqi Kurds, who run an autonomous administration in the region, of tolerating and even aiding the PKK, but has said it will still pursue dialogue with them to resolve the problem.