Ankara - Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi on Thursday warned the Kurdish Workers' Party in northern Iraq either to disarm or leave Iraq.

"The PKK will lay down its weapons or it will leave Iraq," the Sunni politician told Turkish state television TRT during a state visit to Turkey.

Al-Hashimi added that Iraq was prepared to support action against the PKK, but that Iraqi forces were too weak to move against the group.

Turkey and Iraq on Wednesday announced a military agreement that anticipates cooperation between the two countries in training and armaments.

The PKK maintains bases in the Kurdish autonomous regions in northern Iraq from which it has launched several attacks into neighbouring Turkey.

The Kurdish guerrilla group, considered a terrorist organization by both the United States and the European Union, has been fighting since the 1980s for independence or greater autonomy for Kurdish areas in Turkey. (dpa)