By Saad Abdul Majid, IOL Turkey Correspondent

ANKARA, October 13 (IslamOnline) - Accusing the United States and Britain of encouraging the Kurds to establish their separate state, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit warned Sunday, October 13, that the situation in north Iraq "has got out of hand".

In remarks carried by TRT 2 television, Ecevit was responding to reports that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) agreed on a "constitution" for a state and named the city of Kirkuk as its "capital."

The PUK and the KDP shared control of the northern Kurdish regions of Iraq since 1991 after U.S.-led forces expelled Iraqi occupation troops from Kuwait.

Ecevit said, "We have to discuss the issue in detail and in depth with those concerned, and primarily with the United States. A misleading constitution has emerged. This situation causes concern. It is a situation that we cannot accept."

Asked whether Turkey was considering massing troops on its eastern border with Iraq, Ecevit said: "No, there is no such thing at the moment .... We want a solution to the problems through peaceful means. We will do all in our power to achieve that."

"Now, we can say there is already a Kurdish state in northern Iraq," Ecevit said, adding, "Turkey is pushed into a war it does not want to be a party to". He, further, hinted that the U.S. and Britain "may be behind the fast developments of events in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq".

Turkey opposes a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq for fear it would lead to the break-up of the country, with the Kurds forming an independent state that might further fan separatist flames among Turkey's Kurdish minority."

"We are waiting for the U.S. answer to know whether they support Iraqi Kurds in their latest moves. If not, Turkish troops will enter northern Iraq immediately," the Turkish Prime Minister asserted.

Ecevit called on the United States "to put Turkey's position (as a strategic partner) into consideration, and to carefully measure the current and future interests of turkey".

On Saturday, October 12, he said that talks were needed with Washington.

"We must discuss these questions in more detail, in more depth with those concerned, first of all the United States," said Ecevit.

"Until now this question was mostly a security issue (for Turkey), but that is no longer enough, we must discuss it from a political point of view" with the United States, he added.