THE American secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, made a last-ditch plea to Turkey yesterday not to go ahead with a military strike against Kurdish rebels in Northern Iraq.

“I urged restraint,” she told reporters after talking to Turkey’s president, prime minister and foreign minister by telephone. Despite her entreaty, the Turkish parliament is expected to press ahead with a vote authorising military action this week.

Recep Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, warned America to stay out of the dispute: “Did they seek permission when they came a distance of 10,000km and hit Iraq?” he asked.

Turkey’s determination to strike at camps belonging to the Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) comes after 30 Turks, including 13 members of a crack commando unit, were killed by PKK militants inside Turkey in the past 10 days. Turkish newspapers appeared with black-bordered front pages and photographs of relatives weeping over the slain soldiers’s coffins.

Iraq timeline: five years of conflict

From accusations that the weapons of mass destruction dossier had been sexed-up to withdrawal of British troops from Basra

Multimedia

• Poll: Was Iraq war worth the sacrifice?

• Audio slideshow: Iraq conflict explained

• Pictures: Iraq, war and aftermath

Related Internet Links

• Read the Inside Iraq blog from our team in Baghdad

General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, said he was concerned by the threat to US forces in Iraq if Turkey mounted cross-border strikes. “A lot of our supplies come through Turkey,” he said.

The Turks are furious with America after a Democrat-led congressional committee last week approved a resolution labelling the killings of up to 1.5m Armenians during the first world war as genocide.

The resolution is expected to be put to a vote in the House of Representatives next month, but the White House is urgently trying to dissuade Democratic congressmen from approving it.

Turkey temporarily recalled its ambassador to Washington last week in protest at the vote. In a conciliatory move, the US State Department described the PKK as a terrorist organisation and said America was working with the Iraqi government to stop its violence against Turkey. “The PKK needs to be put out of business,” said spokesman Tom Casey.

- The former commander of American forces in Iraq has sharply criticised the Bush administration's "incompetent" handling of the war. "America is living a nightmare with no end in sight," Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanches told journalist.

Times Recommends

• Times Charity Appeal: SolarAid
• Is it Black Monday all over again for Dubai?
• Behind the scenes at the biggest deal