Germany had previously issued a warrant for Mr Ocalan's arrest, in connection with crimes allegedly committed on German soil.

But when Italian police arrested Mr Ocalan last month, Germany declined to seek his extradition, for fear of provoking trouble between Turks and Kurds living inside Germany.

"You issue a warrant for crimes committed on your territory ... but then you shy away from trying him," Mr Yilmaz told members of his party in parliament in an apparent reference to Germany. "What kind of a legal state is this?"

Italy refuses to hand over Mr Ocalan to Turkey, since Italian law forbids the extradition of prisoners to countries where they might face the death penalty - as is the case with the Kurdish leader in Turkey.

Call to Italy

Mr Yilmaz also said that even if Italy did not hand over Mr Ocalan to the Turks, "the least [Italy] can do is to make sure that his crimes do not remain unpunished".

Rome and Bonn have proposed an international tribunal to try Mr Ocalan - a suggestion which has angered Ankara.

Since 1984, the Kurdish People's Party (PKK), led by Mr Ocalan, has been fighting for an independent Kurdish homeland in south-eastern Turkey, in a war that has killed 37,000 people.

Football fears

Meanwhile, members of Turin's Juventus football team, who are due to play a match in Istanbul on Wednesday, are reported to be deeply concerned over their safety.

The European Champions League match against the Turkish club Galatsaray had been postponed for a week after a wave of anti-Italian sentiment saw Turks burning Italian flags.