Turkey took a step toward cross-border military action, as its top political and military leaders issued a statement today allowing troops to move into Iraq to eliminate separatist Kurdish rebel camps in the mountainous northern region.

Turkey moved toward military action in the face of strong opposition by the United States, which is anxious to maintain peace in the region, one of the rare areas of stability in conflict-torn Iraq. But more than two dozen Turkish soldiers have been killed in recentl days, and the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seems far more determined than before to act decisively.

All government offices and institutions have been ordered “to take all economic and political measures, including cross-border operations when necessary, in order to end the existence of the terror organization in a neighboring country,” said the statement, which was released by Mr. Erdogan’s office.

A government official, who asked not to be named, said that primary preparations were underway to ask parliamentary approval for a cross border military operation into Northern Iraq, a request that would constitute the first formal step toward an offensive.

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“Our government will soon start technical consultation with the military to see what they need in order to end this violence that make our hearts bleed. First, there needs to be necessary preparations and assessments. We can say that they have already started.”

Relations between the United States and Turkey are delicate. A bill on the Armenian genocide — the killing of more than a million Armenians by Turkey at the end of World War I — is set to come before the House Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. Turks have been working strenuously to prevent its consideration, with Mr. Erdogan making phone calls this evening, according to a Turkish member of Parliament now in Washington to work against its passage.

Passage of the bill “would be insulting to Turkey,” said Egeman Bagis, the Parliament member. “It would mean losing Turkey’s support in the region.”

He did not say precisely what that might mean. Turkey ended military cooperation with France last year after France voted to make denial of the Armenian genocide a crime.

“It could make it very difficult for Turkey continue supporting,” the United States in Iraq, Mr. Bagis said.

Turkey’s foreign minister, Ali Babacan, made a similar appeal to Israeli authorities on a visit over the weekend, asking that they press Congress to drop the matter. Turkey has close relations with Israel, and Turkish officials have bristled at a new wording by the Anti-Defamation League this fall declaring that the killing of Armenians was “tantamount to genocide.”

After the meeting of the council in Ankara, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul told the government-run Anatolian News Agency that the parliamentary approval normally needed for cross-border movement of troops was not needed for special units in hot pursuit of Kurdish separatist rebels. The rebels have launched a recent series of hit-and-run attacks from bases in northern Iraqi mountains. A land mine that exploded Sunday in southeastern Sirnak Province, about 15 miles from the Iraq border, killed 13 soldiers, one of the highest death tolls in recent years from attacks by the separatist Kurdish Workers’ Party, or P.K.K.

Some analysts said that give the complicated relations among Turkey, Iraq and the United States, Turkey would continue to consider military action a last resort.

Edip Baser, a retired general who acted as special coordinator in a joint United States-Turkey effort against the P.K.K. in 2006, said, “Security forces always have plans and programs ready, and now together with the directives mentioned in today’s statement, these plans will be dealt with at the highest level until the best timing, both military and political.”

Senior cabinet members, state officials and high-ranking military officials met Tuesday after President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Erdogan and the head of the Turkish Army, Yasar Buyukanit, vowed to strengthen efforts in their fight against the P.K.K.

“”Turkey has tried to persuade Iraqi officials to recognize Turkey’s right to enter inside the country for so-called “hot pursuit.” An agreement to combat terrorism signed between the two countries last month excluded military options, but encouraged technical and intelligence cooperation.

An agreement between Turkey and Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s rule did not require Iraqi officials’ approval in advance of any Turkish cross-border troop movements.