Russia urges Turkish restraint on Kurdish rebels

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Turkey should show restraint over Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq but its security concerns are understandable, a Kremlin spokesman said on Wednesday.

"We share Turkish concerns over terrorist activities in its southeast, some of which are trans-border," Kremlin deputy spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a briefing.

"We stick to the position that exercising its legitimate rights, Turkey should realize its responsibility as a regional state so as not to make things worse. Any sharp movements can deteriorate the situation (and) take it out of control."

Peskov added: "We hope Turkey will refrain from ill-considered steps."

"We call on Turkey to continue political and diplomatic efforts not only with Iraq, but also with other countries which are helping it," he said.

Ankara has massed up to 100,000 troops along its rugged border with Iraq and threatened a military incursion against thousands of Kurdish rebels who have launched attacks on targets inside Turkey.

Washington, which views Turkey as a vital ally in the Middle East, has urged Ankara to show restraint. It argues an incursion to confront the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) would further destabilize an already volatile region.

The Soviet Union, keen to destabilize U.S. ally Turkey, offered political and financial support to Kurdish insurgents.

But post-Soviet Russia, which had to fight two bloody wars to end its own separatist rebellion in Chechnya, now looks more favorably on Ankara's efforts to end the Kurdish insurgency.