ANKARA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Visiting U.S. Coordinator for Iraq David Satterfield said Friday that he hopes proper measures would be taken so that a Turkish cross-border military operation against Kurdish rebels in Iraq would not be necessary, CNN Turk reported.

    Satterfield arrived in Ankara on Friday morning in a bid to persuade Turkey not to launch cross-border military operations against the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

    However, Satterfield said the presence of a terrorist group in the north of Iraq is unacceptable.

    He said that meeting Kurdish leaders is necessary in order to bring an end to this unacceptable situation, adding that the United States has very constructive dialogue with both parties.

    Satterfield did not comment on U.S. reaction in case of a possible Turkish cross-border operation in Iraq.

    He stressed that not only Turkey but also the Kurdish administration in Iraq sees the PKK as a terrorist organization.

    On April 12, Turkish Chief of General Staff Yasar Buyukanit said here that a military operation must be launched to crack down on the PKK camps in northern Iraq.

    Soon after the Turkish announcement, the United States expressed disapproval.

    U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a news briefing that "Turkey's army chief argued publicly ... in favor of a military incursion into northern Iraq to crack down on Turkish Kurd rebels there. Certainly that's an option that everybody should work to avoid."

    The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, NATO and the European Union, launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking decades of strife that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.