Speaking to Turkish reporters during a visit to Kyrgyzstan, Gul described the Kurdish insurgency in the southeast as "Turkey's most important problem" and stressed that "increasing democratic standards" was the way to resolve it.

"The more time we let pass, the more the problems will amplify," Anatolia quoted Gul as saying.

His comments came amid a revived debate in Ankara on how the Kurdish issue should be resolved and media speculation that the government might be considering fresh steps to win over the Kurdish community and encourage the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to lay down arms.

Gul ruled out "any bargaining" with the PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community.

"There cannot be any bargaining with terrorist organisations.... When there is violence, even the improvement of democratic standards becomes more difficult," he said.

The PKK took up arms for self-rule in the Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed about 45,000 lives.

Eager to boost its bid to join the European Union, Ankara has in recent years granted the Kurds a series of cultural freedoms, but failed to draw up a specific strategy to convince the PKK to end its armed struggle.

The government rules out dialogue with the PKK and has rejected calls by Kurdish activists to consider a general amnesty for the rebels.