Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has returned from a trip to Washington with US assurances of shared intelligence in combating the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which has been launching attacks on Turkey from Iraqi soil.

"The PKK is a terrorist organization. They're an enemy of Turkey, they're an enemy of Iraq and they're an enemy of the United States," President George W. Bush told reporters after their talks on Monday.

The West is worried that a Turkish incursion  could destabilize a part of Iraq that has so far escaped much of the violence plaguing other areas of the country. US officials also worry that Turkish action could lead to a wider regional crisis.

German media commentators say the offer of US assistance could help Erdogan to calm down public opinion in Turkey and to resist calls from "hotheads" in the Turkish army for a large-scale incursion into northern Iraq. But even limited strikes could prompt the PKK to retaliate with bomb attacks in Turkish cities, they warn. The real solution to the problem lies in the treatment of Kurds living in Turkey.

Business daily Financial Times Deutschland writes:

"The West won't try to stop Turkey because it can be confident that the country won't launch into blind aggression. That now seems to be the compromise formula for the Turkish army's fight against the PKK terrorist organization, which keeps on launching attacks from Kurdish northern Iraq. It could be a formula for success if it succeeds in preventing a major Turkish invasion of Iraq.

"The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently scored some major international points. Its outrage over the PKK attacks is being taken seriously now by all important partners, from the Kurds and the central government in Iraq, to the Europeans and the Washington government. Erdogan has returned from his latest visit to George W. Bush with a clear statement of solidarity from the president, without creating the impression that he went to the White House cap in hand."

"The US pledge of intelligence information on PKK positions and movements has concrete military value, and the US and Iraqi Kurds appear prepared to accept targeted military strikes by Turkey against the PKK."

"All these are strong arguments which Erdogan can hold up at home to the hotheads in the army and in the general public demanding a major Turkish assault on the PKK. Turkey must be made aware that the PKK problem can't be solved quickly. And that limited operations must not be allowed to escalate accidentally."

Center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"Limited military operations do not yet amount to war. Erdogan will try to calm down heated public opinion at home by launching air strikes or brief special forces operations against PKK camps -- Western governments are likely to accept that. But he mustn't go any further. There's a big danger that things may escalate. What happens if the Kurdish PKK carries out its threat to react by launching bomb attacks in major Turkish cities? What would then be the next step?