Turkey vows to press anti-terror offensive

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday vowed to do "whatever necessary" in Turkey's controversial fight against Kurdish militants, with no end in sight to a two-week cycle of violence.

Ankara is waging a two-pronged cross border "anti-terror" offensive against Islamic State (ISIS) militants in Syria and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in northern Iraq, after a wave of attacks in the country.

But so far, the air strikes against the PKK targets in northern Iraq have far outweighed those against ISIS, raising concerns about the extent of possible civilian casualties.

Erdogan told reporters returning with him on a trip to Asia that the Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq should be taking action against the PKK bases there.

"If they cannot, Turkey will do whatever necessary to defend itself," he was quoted as telling reporters on his presidential jet.

But with the PKK staging daily attacks on security forces in reprisal for Turkish bombing raids, Erdogan denied there would be any return to the 1990s when the group's separatist insurgency was at its peak.

"I don't believe that. That's impossible. Maybe those who say this want to return to the 1990s," he said, quoted by the Sabah daily and other newspapers.