"I don't think that it's too late. It's never too late," general Yasar Buyukanit was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet daily.

"One does not organise an operation just for the pleasure of organising one. There has to be a target and results," he said.

Turkey has accused the Iraqi Kurds of tolerating and aiding the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), but they have come under US pressure to act against the rebels to head off a large-scale Turkish incursion.

Tensions along the Turkish-Iraqi border increased after October 21, when PKK militants ambushed a military unit, killing 12 soldiers and capturing eight. The captives were released Sunday.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, has waged a 23-year armed campign for Kurdish self-rule in Turkey's southeast. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.

After talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, President George W. Bush pledged to provide Ankara with "real-time" intelligence on rebel movements, calling the PKK a "common enemy."

Analysts say a large-scale Turkish incursion into northern Iraq is unlikely, but see Bush's promises of intelligence support as tacit US approval for limited Turkish strikes on PKK targets.

Ankara said Tuesday that it retains the military option in northern Iraq, where the PKK has long taken refuge.

The Turkish press has speculated of contained attacks against the rebel bases but general Buyukanit dismissed the notion, saying: "There will not be a small operation. We think there is an important target there."