The United States has told the Iraqi Kurdish leadership time is up and "they have to do something against the PKK," Kurdish sources reported.

The New Anatolian learnt that the U.S. is clearly concerned that the tide in Turkey is pushing the Turkish government to take action but no one expects any cross border operations before the elections.

The United States has also reportedly informed the Iraqi Kurds that it cannot prevent a Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq, Kurdish sources said.

The messages were reportedly conveyed to Iraqi Kurdish Regional President Massoud Barzani and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani by senior American officials in Iraq.

The Iraqi Kurds were told they do not have to openly fight against the PKK in the mountains but there is much they can do to curb PKK activities in their region. The Kurds were told "between outright clashing with the PKK and total inactivity against it there is much you can do."

This comes as pressure is building up on the Turkish government to act against the PKK terrorists holed up in the Iraqi Kurdish mountains.

The Turkish military is also under pressure from the public as well as its own rank and file as junior officers tell the generals "we are suffering casualties, do something."

There were rumors last week that the government would take up the issue send a motion to Parliament allowing Turkish forces to enter Iraq. However, no such motion materialized. On the contrary Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said such an motion is not on the government agenda signaling that the prospects for a cross border operation before the elections are very low if not impossible.

However, both Turkish experts and American diplomats see serious pressures on the Ankara government and feel a military incursion because of the internal dynamics of Turkey may be inevitable if the Iraqi Kurds to not make some solid gestures regarding the PKK.

Kurdish sources say this has created awareness in Baghdad that "Turks mean business" and thus Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has been saying 140,000 troops have been massed at the border and Iraq feels threatened. Therre has been no reactions form the Iraqi Kurds because according to a recent policy decision the Erbil government has agreed that Baghdad will handle relations with Turkey and will react to issues rather than the Iraqi Kurds.

U.S. officials have said they are working closely with Turkey to combat the PKK but that their focus in Iraq is in
combatting insurgents opposing U.S. forces. The United States considers the PKK a terrorist group and has taken
steps to cut off its international financing. But U.S. officials have had few examples of success against the PKK
in Iraq to point to in answering Turkish concerns.

The PKK has escalated attacks this year, killing at least 67 soldiers so far. More than 110 militants were killed in the same period.

The PKK has been smuggling sophisticated explosive devices over the border from Iraq for attacks in Turkey.

The PKK issue is highly sensitive in Turkey, which has been battling the terrorist organization since 1984 in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. Tension over whether the Turkish military will take action in Iraq has intensified as the country approaches an election next week.

During the 1990s, Turkish troops penetrated Iraqi territory several times, sometimes with as many as 50,000
troops. The Turkish forces withdrew, leaving behind about 1,300 soldiers and 40 tanks to monitor PKK activities.