The current one-year mandate expires on October 17.

"The motion was presented to the ministers today to be signed and will be discussed in parliament" when lawmakers return from summer recess in October, Cicek, who is also government spokesman, told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

The motion is likely to be easily approved by parliament, in which the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) holds a comfortable majority.

The mandate authorises the government to order cross-border military action against hideouts of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq which the rebels use as a launching pad for strikes on Turkish targets across the border.

Parliament has already twice extended the mandate, which was first approved in 2007.

Using intelligence supplied by the United States, the Turkish army has staged a series of air raids against rebel targets in the region since December 2007, and carried out a number of ground incursions.

This year's extension will coincide with tentative efforts by the government to find ways of ending the PKK's deadly campaign without further bloodshed.

Media reports last week said officials had held secret talks with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan who is serving a life sentence since 1999.

Although behind bars, Ocalan retains influence over the PKK, often issuing guidelines to the rebels in statements released through his lawyers.

The talks aimed to persuade the PKK into extending an existing truce, discuss amnesty for the rebels if they agree to lay down arms and fresh reforms to expand Kurdish freedoms, the reports said.

The PKK picked up arms against Ankara in 1984 for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-populated east and southeast, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.