ANKARA, June 7 (AFP) - 3h46 - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets US President George W. Bush at the White House on Wednesday in a fence-mending visit during which he is expected to make a new push for US action against Turkish Kurd rebels based in northern Iraq.Turkish-US ties are still struggling to recover from a crisis that erupted before the 2003 invasion of Iraq when Turkey, long valued by Washington as a reliable Muslim ally in NATO, denied US troops access to its territory to open a northern front in Iraq.

Differences over Iraq have abated since, but Ankara's frustration is growing at US reluctance to curb Turkish Kurd rebels holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq who last year ended a five-year unilateral truce with Ankara.

The rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), branded a terrorist group by Ankara and Washington, are reported to be infiltrating Turkey in increasing numbers along with explosives and ammunition.

Turkish army chief Hilmi Ozkok complained in April that the PKK's inclusion on the US terror list "has no meaning in practice," while Erdogan grumbled that Iraq is becoming a "training ground for terrorist groups."

US officials say their troops are already swamped with violence in other parts of Iraq, but Ankara is worried that US inaction encourages PKK activities on the Turkish side of the border.

About 40 PKK militants and some 30 members of the security forces have died in violence since March and police have detained several suspected PKK members allegedly planning attacks on government buildings and tourist and industrial targets.

US inaction on the PKK has contributed to what is seen as rising anti-US sentiment in Turkey, analysts say. A recent opinion poll found that 74 percent of Turks see the uninhibited presence of PKK rebels in northern Iraq as the biggest problem in US-Turkish ties.

In remarks ahead of his visit to Washington, Erdogan sought to downplay the disagreements.

"We don't want our strategic partnership to be clouded," Erdogan told the Yeni Safak daily at the weekend. "There might have been some problems, but we can overcome them. In fact, we have already overcome most of them."

In an apparent reference to Turkey's exasperation over the PKK, Erdogan said: "Some issues may not be developing at the pace we desire. I will ask him (Bush) to speed them up."

Both countries have made gestures in recent months to put their ties back on track.

Washington has maintained support for Turkey's bid to join the European Union, and US business people and congressmen have visited the breakaway Turkish state on the divided island of Cyprus in a show of foreign support for the internationally isolated enclave.

Ankara, for its part, has allowed the US army to use a prominent base in southern Turkey as a logistical cargo hub for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Erdogan told Yeni Safak that Iraq, Cyprus and the Middle East would figure high on the agenda of his talks at the White House.

Turkey is also willing to undertake projects to improve the infrastructure in Afghanistan, where its troops are currently at the helm of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, he said.

On Thursday, Erdogan will meet UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York to discuss chances of reviving the stalled Cyprus peace process.