"There is no such a thing on our agenda. It is out of the question," Erdogan said in an interview with NTV television.

Media reports have said the government might consider an amnesty for the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, as part of a wide-ranging plan involving also the Iraqi Kurds.

The PKK has long taken refuge in the mountains of Kurdish-run northern Iraq, using the area as a launching pad for cross-border attacks on Turkish territory.

Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurds have pledged to help Turkey against the PKK and urged the rebels to disarm or leave Iraq.

Earlier this month, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, said Kurdish groups from regional countries would convene in northern Iraq soon and issue a joint appeal on the PKK to lay down arms.

He said he expected the PKK to heed the appeal and called on Ankara to consider an amnesty for the rebels to boost prospects of a lasting peace.

It was not yet clear whether PKK representatives would be invited to the gathering, expected to be held in late April or May.

Erdogan said Friday the meeting "will be absolutely disgraced and lose its respectability" if the rebels participate.

The PKK took up arms for self-rule in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 44,000 lives.