Ankara - The Turkish parliament Wednesday extended for one year a mandate that allows the Turkish military to launch cross- border operations into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish separatists, who use the mountainous terrain as a base from which to launch attacks inside Turkey.

The mandate was carried by a clear majority, with 511 deputies voting in favour and only 18 against. The original mandate was due to end October 17. It now runs through October 2009.

The vote in parliament came just a few days after the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) launched an attack on a military border post that left 17 Turkish soldiers and 23 PKK separatists dead. In response, the Turkish military have launched a number of air raids on suspected PKK positions inside northern Iraq.

Just hours before the vote, suspected PKK attackers fired long- barreled weapons at a police bus in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir, killing at least five police officers.

"We will continue to fight against the terrorist organization," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, referring to both the vote in parliament and the attack on the police bus.

Ankara has complained that the United States has failed to fulfill promises to crack down on PKK activities in northern Iraq and that, therefore, Turkey has no choice but to launch cross border operations.

Besides a number of air strikes, the Turkish military in February launched a large-scale operation inside northern Iraq. The Turkish media reported that as many as 10,000 soldiers were sent across the border to seek out PKK rebels and their camps.

According to the Turkish military, 240 PKK fighters, 24 Turkish soldiers and three Turkish state-employed village guards were killed in the week-long operation.

Ankara blames the separatist group for the deaths of more than 32,000 people since the early 1980s, when the PKK began its fight for independence or autonomy for the mainly Kurdish-populated south-east of Turkey.

The PKK is listed by the United States and the European Union as a terrorist group. (dpa)