Turkey's government will seek approval from parliament for cross-border military operation in Syria "when deemed necessary", at a special session Thursday morning, the private NTV television reported.

The decision came after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a three-and-half hour cabinet meeting following Syrian shelling that killed five Turkish nationals in a border town.

Turkey on Wednesday shelled Syria in retaliation for cross-border fire that killed five Turkish nationals, the prime minister's office said in a statement.

"Our armed forces in the border region immediately retaliated against this heinous attack... by shelling the targets spotted by radar," it said.

Baghdad on Tuesday moved to end Turkey's military presence in north Iraq where Ankara is pursuing Kurdish rebels, signaling a further deterioration in ties between the neighbors.

Turkey has since the 1990s maintained several military bases in the autonomous Kurdistan region of north Iraq, where the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebel group also has bases.

The body of Turkey's late president Turgut Ozal was to be exhumed Tuesday for a belated autopsy as part of a probe into allegations that his death in 1993 might have been caused by poisoning, Anatolia reported.

The exhumation began early in the morning at Ozals' mausoleum in Istanbul's historic Topkapi district, after prosecutors issued a warrant for toxicology tests on his remains last month, according to the agency.

Turkish troops fired across the Syrian border on Tuesday, killing a member of a Kurdish militia and wounding two others in the first such fatal shooting at the Turkish frontier, a watchdog reported.

"The three Kurds, members of a Kurdish militia hostile to the Damascus regime but also wary of the rebellion, were patrolling the border in (Syria's) Hasaka province when they were hit by Turkish army fire from the other side," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

The Turkish parliament began a new legislative session Monday in a climate dominated by tough discussions on a new and more democratic constitution and renewed clashes between Kurdish rebels and security forces.

During his traditional speech opening the national assembly's session President Abdullah Gul called on members of the parliament not to "fall into the trap of terrorism", arising from the recent spike in attacks by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeast of the country, and abandon democratic progress in Turkey.

The Turkish government asked parliament Monday to renew the mandate for its armed forces to attack Kurdish rebel bases in Iraq for another year, amid an upsurge in clashes between the two sides.

The assembly will prioritize debate on the bill submitted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), parliamentary sources said, with the current mandate expiring on October 17.

The number of Syrians fleeing the conflict in their homeland and seeking refuge in Turkey has climbed close to the 100,000 threshold, Turkish authorities said Monday.

Turkey is currently home to 93,576 refugees housed in several camps in the southeast along the Syrian border, the AFAD disaster agency said in a statement.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was re-elected Sunday as leader of his Islamic-rooted party, securing his seat for three more years.

Erdogan faced no competition in the vote, which was held at a congress of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in a sports arena with thousands of party members and guests in attendance.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged China, Iran and Russia Sunday to end their support for the Syrian regime, warning that "history will not forgive" their stance in the face of mounting bloodshed.

"Please rethink your current attitude. History will not forgive those who have sided with these brutal regimes," Erdogan said in a speech at a congress of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).