Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Turkey warned of a wider military assault into northern Iraq and called on the U.S. to join the fight, as the army shelled suspected militant camps on the Iraqi side of the border.

Turkey won't stand by after Iraq allowed the Kurdish fighters to use bases on Iraqi territory for attacks that left 42 Turks dead this month, President Abdullah Gul said in Ankara. Shelling by Turkish artillery of the Iraqi side of the border continued today, CNN Turk reported.

``Turkey's patience has run out, despite our respect for Iraq's territorial integrity'' Gul told a meeting of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

The U.S. has cautioned Turkey against a full-scale military operation, while urging Iraq to stop PKK fighters from crossing the border into Turkey. The Bush administration has expressed concern that a major attack will destabilize the Kurdish- controlled region, the calmest part of Iraq.

The army, the second-largest in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has about 80,000 soldiers stationed in a mountainous area near northern Iraq, a region with partial autonomy from the central government in Baghdad.

A commander of a Turkish army base about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the border said his men were ferrying troops, medics and supplies to the border area by helicopter. The makeshift base, complete with helicopter pad, houses as many as 500 soldiers, said the officer, who asked not to be identified.

Nights of Shelling

In Derecik, 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Iraq, village chief Adil Ercan said the military had been shelling targets in northern Iraq for the past three nights. Smoke was rising from several locations on the Iraqi side.

The PKK has fought the Turkish army for autonomy from Turkey for the past two decades at the cost of almost 40,000 lives, most of them Kurdish.

As a ``strategic ally'' the U.S. government is obliged to help Turkey battle PKK fighters, just as Turkey sent troops to help the U.S. combat terrorism in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in televised comments in Bucharest today. He didn't provide further details.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will hold talks with Erdogan and Gul in Ankara on Nov. 1 to discuss measures to tackle the 3,500 PKK militants in Iraq, the U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital said in a statement on its Web site. A team of Iraqi defense officials and diplomats visited Ankara today to discuss how Iraq might crack down on the militants.

Border Post

Turkish soldiers killed 30 PKK fighters as they prepared to attack a border post in Turkey's Hakkari province late on Oct. 23, the military said on its Web site. The army repelled the attack with tanks and artillery before the militants fled into Iraq, it said.

Turkey is demanding that Iraq close five PKK camps on the Iraqi side of the border and cut off supply routes to the group's bases in Iraq's Kandil mountains, the Milliyet newspaper cited the Turkish ambassador to the U.S., Nabi Sensoy, as saying yesterday.

The army sent 300 commandos into Iraq by helicopter on Oct. 21 to hunt down PKK fighters after the group killed 12 Turkish soldiers the same day and eight went missing. Artillery and warplanes have since been used to attack the group's positions in northern Iraq.

The Kurdish channel Roj TV today showed videotape of men it identified as the eight captive Turkish soldiers, adding that they were in good health. The U.S. is ``doing what it can'' to secure the Turks' release, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza.

Militants Killed

Thirty PKK militants died after Turkish troops and planes repelled an attack on a border post late on Oct. 23, the Vatan newspaper said today, citing unidentified security officials.

NATO has voiced ``full solidarity'' with Turkey and said its military is acting with ``restraint'' in striking at Kurdish militants in Iraq.

Turkey carried out major incursions into northern Iraq in 1995, with almost 40,000 troops, and in 1997, with tens of thousands. Turkey's parliament on Oct. 17 passed a resolution authorizing the government to send in troops to attack PKK positions.

The prospect of Turkish military intervention in Iraq has halted the Turkish lira's biggest rally in at least 30 years. The lira has depreciated 2 percent since reaching a record high of 1.18 against the dollar on Oct. 9.

Turkey's National Security Council, an advisory body of military and civilian leaders, yesterday called on the government to implement ``immediate'' economic sanctions against northern Iraq, including closing border crossings and halting exports of electricity, Vatan said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Bentley in Ankara at mbentley3@bloomberg.net; Ayla Jean Yackley in Semdinli, Turkey, at ayackley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 25, 2007 12:38 EDT