Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the safe haven that separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels enjoy in northern Iraq would dominate his talks with US President George W. Bush at the White House on November 5.

"I will openly tell him that we expect concrete, urgent steps against the terrorists," Erdogan said in a speech in parliament to deputies of his Justice and Development Party.

"The problem of the PKK terrorist organisation is a sincerity test for everybody," he said. "I will tell him (Bush) that this test carries great importance for the region and in determining the fate of our future relations."

Erdogan said he would seek an explanation from Washington on how US military hardware given to Iraqi forces had ended up in PKK hands.

He said he would discuss "the groups on which the terrorist organisation relies" -- an apparent reference to the Iraqi Kurds, who run northern Iraq and are accused by Ankara of tolerating and even supporting the PKK.

Breaking the drug-trafficking rings the PKK uses for financing would also be on the agenda, he said, adding that he would ask the US to put forward a roadmap on the procedures it intended to take.

Turkey still considered diplomacy its favoured route to resolve the problem, but the threat of military action remained, Erdogan said.

"We are a part of the world and we should not forget that diplomacy has certain requirements," he said.

"Our talks (with Bush) will make them better understand that Turkey's patience has run out and that we are determined to unhesitatingly take all the steps to finish off terrorism."

The PKK, which has waged a bloody campaign for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey since 1984, is listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community, including Washington.

The Turkish parliament earlier this month authorised military action in northern Iraq to strike at PKK bases there.

Washington strongly opposes a Turkish incursion, but is in an awkward position between two key allies -- NATO-member Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds, who run northern Iraq but are reluctant to confront fellow Kurds of the PKK.