"A ceasefire is done between states. It is not something for the terrorist organisation," Erdogan told the private Samanyolu television channel, referring to Ocalan's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"The terrorist organisation must lay down its arms. That is what we are waiting for to restore peace in the (Kurdish) region," Erdogan said.

This was no surprise, Turkish officials having ignored four previous truces proclaimed by the PKK, the longest of which lasted from 1999 to 2004.

But a spokesman for Turkey's main Kurdish political party welcomed Ocalan's move and called on the authorities not to reject the appeal outright.

"The country needs this chance at peace," Sirri Sakik, spokesman for the Party for a Democratic Society (DTP) told AFP Friday. "If this situation is handled well by all concerned -- the politicians, the army and the PKK -- we could obtain an end to the hostilities."

Ocalan made the appeal through his lawyers Thursday from his cell on the prison island of Imrali, where he has been serving a life sentence for separatism and treason since 1999.

"I appeal to the PKK to call a ceasefire... (and) not use weapons unless it is attacked with the aim of being annihilated," Ocalan said.

"Such a process ... is very important to build a democratic union between Turks and Kurds," Ocalan said. "With this process, the way to democratic dialogue will also be opened."

Ocalan's appeal came on the heels of change in the Turkish military hierarchy, with General Yasar Buyukanit, perceived as more of a hardliner than his predecessor, becoming chief of the general staff and renewing the army's vow to hunt the PKK down to the last man unless they surrender.

There was no immediate reaction from the PKK to their leader's appeal as fighting on the ground continued, officials in Sirnak province saying Friday that two rebels were killed there Thursday in a gunbattle with the security forces.

The PKK's military branch is based in the mountains of northern Iraq -- a source of friction between Ankara, Washington and Baghdad; its political leaders live in exile in Western Europe.

Ocalan is believed to retain significant influence over the PKK, which he founded in 1978 and which took up arms for independence in the country's Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984.

It abandoned its independence plans after Ocalan's arrest in Kenya in 1999 and called a truce that lasted for five years.

Ankara in the meantime undertook a series of reforms to improve the lot of the country's estimated 10 to 15 million Kurds -- out of a total population of 73 million -- as part of efforts to align with the norms of the European Union, which it is seeking to join.

The PKK, classed as a terror organisation by Turkey, the EU and the United States, ended the truce in June 2004, saying the reforms were insufficient, and significantly increased its attacks, notably this year.

More than 37,000 people have died in Kurdish-populated southeast Turkey since the PKK uprising began in 1984.