A spokesman for the rebel group, which has waged a deadly insurgency in southeastern Turkey for nearly 25 years, accused Ankara of trying to play divide and rule among the Kurdish people, who straddle the borders of Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria.

"Since they failed in their military campaign in the border region over the past year, they have come up with the policy of trying to divide the Kurds and provoke infighting among them," Kamal Kheyri told AFP by telephone.

"So now they are approaching the Iraqi Kurdish regional government to this end."

Kheyri urged the Iraqi Kurdish authorities "not to fall into the clutches of the Turkish plot."

"The Kurds have been fortunate so far since our enemies have not been successful in provoking infighting," he said.

PKK rear bases in northern Iraq have come under heavy bombardment in recent days from both Turkish warplanes and Iranian artillery.

In recent years, Iran has made common cause with Turkey in its fight against the PKK as it has sought to suppress a rebellion among its own Kurdish minority by a rebel group closely allied to Ankara's foes.

The Turkish authorities have repeatedly accused the Iraqi Kurdish regional government of allowing the PKK to operate in northern Iraq.

Ankara has also campaigned heavily against any extension of the autonomy enjoyed by the Kurds in northern Iraq.

But it has maintained a dialogue with the regional government nonetheless. Its president Massoud Barzani visited Ankara in October.