A devout Muslim, but the leader of a strongly secular state, a pro-European with a nation rooted in Asia Minor, he finds himself squarely in the centre of today’s most pressing issues — the War on Terror, the future shape of Europe and the fate of Iraq.

On a visit to London, originally designed to prepare for negotiations this year for Turkish entry into the European Union, the 51-year-old offers sympathy and co-operation to a country in the grip of a terror campaign. “We have had terrorism in Turkey since 1978,” he told The Times in an exclusive interview. “Everybody should be in the joint effort against terrorism; no one should be left outside the struggle.”

London and Ankara have co-operated closely in the battle since November 2003 when suicide bombers linked to al-Qaeda attacked the British Consulate-General in Istanbul and the local branch of HSBC.

Mr Erdogan is regarded as living proof that a man once imprisoned for four months for reading a “seditious” Islamic poem in public can also become a reliable ally as the leader of a pro-Western secular state.

The former Mayor of Istanbul, and keen amateur footballer, insisted yesterday that he took his responsibilities in combating terrorism seriously. He said: “To give you an example, Turkey has sent troops to Afghanistan to fight against terrorism. Turkish troops number 1,500 and Turkish forces have twice taken over command of ISAF, the international security force in Afghanistan. They have just completed the second tour of command very recently. We are a country ready to take an active part in the fight against terrorism.”

But he expected the same commitment from Turkey’s allies in fighting rebels from the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which has some 3,000 fighters based in north Iraq. The Marxist group, which seeks the creation of a breakaway Kurdish state, is blamed for a wave of violence in Turkey over the past few months that has claimed more than 150 lives.

This month a British tourist was killed and five injured in a bombing at the Turkish resort of Kusadasi. Yesterday 15 suspected PKK gunmen died in clashes with Turkish security forces near the Iraqi border.

Mr Erdogan, whose country refused to allow Turkish territory to be used as a springboard for the invasion of Iraq, threatened to take punitive action against the Kurdish rebels in Iraq unless American forces intervened to halt the cross- border infiltrations.

“At the moment, frankly speaking, we do not see the efforts by the US that we expect to see. We have expressed our views to that effect to the Americans,” Mr Erdogan said after meeting Tony Blair. “There is a time limit. There is a limit to our tolerance.”

Although the PKK is banned in the West for being a terrorist organisation and the US has promised to step up intelligence monitoring of its operations, Mr Erdogan said that he expected nothing short of direct intervention to stop the group. US forces are concentrated in central Iraq, where they are struggling to put down an insurgency by Sunni Arabs. They barely have a presence in the northern Kurdish area, which is largely peaceful.

Iraq, which has Kurds in senior government posts, including the President and Foreign Minister, has repeatedly told Turkey not to send its forces across the border. However, Mr Erdogan insisted that his country was within its rights under international law to defend itself from attack.

Drawing a comparison with US action against Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks, he said: “That mandate is provided for in international law.

“If a country, if a people, if a nation are under threat, that country can do what is necessary under international law. I do not need to name any countries by name, but we would exercise that right in the same way as any other country could, would and did exercise that right.”

On the broader question of fighting militant Islamic groups, he said that Turkey had a crucial role to play as a secular Muslim country with strong ties to Europe, the Middle East and the Muslim world. It was more important than ever for Turkey to become an EU member and that rejection could further damage relations between Islam and the West.

“Otherwise I think tensions and polarisation will take place even more. Turkey is a very important bridge at this point.”

Negotiations to join the EU are to start on October 3, in spite of growing opposition to Turkish membership in France, Germany and other EU countries. But Mr Erdogan predicted that Turkey’s entry into the EU would progress regardless.

PKK FIGHT FOR BREAKAWAY STATE

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Afghanistan News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• Please help: maimed children of war want their lives back
• Cabal seizes diamond riches to buy power
• White House gatecrashers got to the president