ANKARA (AFP) -- A Kurdish rebel group claiming responsibility for past bomb attacks in Turkey has threatened to hit tourist targets and warned European visitors to stay away, the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency reported Sunday.

In a statement posted on the Internet site of the Europe-based agency, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) recalled the arrest last month of 15 suspected Kurdish rebels in France and Belgium, and accused European countries of cracking down on Kurds to safeguard their economic interests in Turkey.

"Turkey's refusal to give up on its policy of denial and annihilation of the Kurds and the participation of European countries in this policy will lead to the targeting of tourists and tourist facilities in Turkey," the statement said.

Turkish officials say TAK is a front which the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a separatist group seeking self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, uses for attacks on civilian targets. The PKK claims TAK is a splinter group over which it has no control.

"When we target Turkish tourism, we will especially target European tourists," the TAK statement said.

"That is why we are now warning tourists against coming to Turkey."

The tourism sector, which brought in 16.85 billion dollars (12.7 billion euros) last year, is a vital source of foreign revenue for Turkey, whose economy is recovering from severe financial crises in 1999 and 2001.

TAK has claimed responsibility for several deadly bomb attacks in Turkey's urban centers and tourist areas, the worst of which killed five people including a Britain and an Irishwoman in the Aegean resort of Kusadasi in 2005.

Last year, the group said it was also behind a spate of bombings to hit tourist resorts in western Turkey which injured several foreign tourists. More than 37,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, took up arms against the Turkish government