(Adds more details) ANKARA, June 2 (Reuters) - Turkey's military said its troops had been verbally harassed by local armed forces in northern Iraq and warned that any repeat incident would draw a tough response. The army chief of general staff said in a statement late on Friday that vehicles carrying Turkish troops in civilian dress had been stopped by armed local forces, who verbally abused the soldiers. "This harassment and pointing of guns ended when it became evident that it was caused by a misunderstanding," it said. The soldiers had returned safely to their base. The army warned that any further harassment of its troops in northern Iraq, where Turkey has retained a small military presence since the Saddam Hussein era, would not be tolerated. "The slightest unethical behaviour or activity will be deemed as made towards the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish Armed Forces and will receive the utmost necessary response," the statement said. Troop movements on Turkey's southeastern border have prompted speculation about a possible incursion into northern Iraq to crush Kurdish separatist guerrillas hiding there. The foreign ministry called U.S. Ambassador in Turkey Ross Wilson and expressed its worries over the incident, CNN Turk said on its website. The website also quoted a Iraqi Kurdish official as saying that local security forces did not know that the harassed soldiers were Turkish army troops. "This was not an act against the Turkish Armed Forces," Behruz Galili was quoted as saying. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said last week he saw eye to eye with the army over possible military action, which would need to be authorised by parliament. The United States, an ally of NATO member Turkey, has repeatedly urged Ankara not to undertake such a move, saying it would make the situation worse. The two countries have agreed financial and other measures to try to curb rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). But pressure within Turkey for an incursion is growing after a suicide bombing in the capital last week killed six people and injured scores more. Authorities blamed the attack on the PKK, which denied involvement. More than 30,000 people have died in the conflict with the PKK since the group launched its insurgency in 1984.
