UK backs Turkey in terror fight

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But after No 10 talks with Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan the Prime Minister also pledged to work for a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

The Turkish parliament has mandated its government to strike back at the rebel bases and Mr Erdogan told reporters in Downing Street: "The Iraqi government must know we can exercise this mandate we have received from the Turkish parliament at any time."

He said his government had tried for months to reach successful agreements with the Iraqi administration, adding: "We cannot wait for ever, so we have to make decisions, our own decisions."

Mr Brown said: "We condemn absolutely and unequivocally the terrorist violence of PKK.

"The fact that 12 members of the Turkish army have been killed, the fact that eight have now been kidnapped and that civilian violence has resulted from their activities within Turkey is something the whole world community has condemned in the last few days.

"We are committed to work with the Turkish government on counter-terrorism activity so we can root out these problems and we will continue to work for a diplomatic solution to the problems that exist from within Iraq."

Meanwhile, thousands of Turks have gathered for the funerals of the 12 soldiers killed in the weekend's Kurdish rebel attack.

Crowds also gathered in Istanbul and in cities across Turkey, waving flags and holding up posters of modern Turkey's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Around 10,000 people attended the funeral of Vedat Kutluca, one of those who died in an ambush by PKK rebels near the border with Iraq on Sunday.