WRAPUP 10-Turkey approves Iraq incursion plan, allies anxious

(Adds Pentagon comment)

By Hidir Goktas and Gareth Jones

ANKARA, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament resoundingly approved a motion on Wednesday allowing troops to cross into northern Iraq to hunt down Kurdish rebels there, but its Western allies and Baghdad urged Ankara to refrain from military action.

As parliament voted in Ankara by 507 votes to 19 in favour of the motion, U.S. President George W. Bush said it would not be in NATO member Turkey's interests to send troops into Iraq and the Pentagon said it did not think Ankara had the appetite for such a move.

Washington fears a Turkish incursion could destabilise the most peaceful part of Iraq and possibly the wider region by encouraging others such as arch-foe Iran to intervene.

Iraq's government said on Wednesday it would send a team to Ankara for further talks to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. NATO and the European Union also urged restraint.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has played down expectations of any imminent attack but the parliamentary vote gives NATO's second biggest army the legal basis to cross the mountainous border as and when it sees fit.

"What matters is what parliament has said," Erdogan told reporters as he left the assembly after the vote.

Erdogan is under heavy public pressure to act after a series of deadly attacks on its troops by the rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who use northern Iraq as a base.