HABUR BORDER CROSSING, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's government is pondering an attack on Kurdish separatists based in northern Iraq, raising fears among people along the frontier that military action will scuttle cross-border trade and wreck the region's rejuvenated economy.

The economic fallout could be huge: The value of goods passing through this border crossing each year is more than $10 billion.

"This border is my only hope," said truck driver Suleyman Gidim, who was ferrying gasoline to U.S. troops in Iraq and has a family of seven to feed.

The Turkish military has been massing troops along the porous border, where separatist rebels cross from safe havens in Iraq to stage attacks in predominantly Kurdish southeastern Turkey.

Residents on the Turkish side of the border fear the economic boom set off in the region after the invasion of Iraq by U.S.-led forces four years ago could evaporate if the Turkish army attacks the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is known by its Kurdish initials, PKK.

Bakeries, groceries, car repair shops and other businesses are thriving along the frontier, which had been closed for years during a UN trade embargo against Iraq that ended after the fall of Saddam Hussein. During the embargo, border trade was limited mostly to the smuggling of crude oil and cigarettes out of Iraq and most small businesses went bankrupt.

New hotels, restaurants and shops have mushroomed and larger customs buildings have been built to serve the thousands of truck drivers and businessmen involved in reconstruction projects in war-torn Iraq. "We are all worried. If Turkey enters Iraq, then the border could be shut down," said Tekin Ozgen, a 27-year-old waiter at a roadside restaurant that caters to truck drivers. "No border gate means no patrons. If that happens, I might have to migrate to the West to become a construction worker."

Vendors descend on the Habur crossing to sell ice cream, boiled eggs and T-shirts to truck drivers waiting in line for hours to get past the border gate while sheep graze on a nearby field.

The crossing sits on a plain at the edge of a river and is surrounded by barbed wire and military watch towers. A large Turkish flag waves on a high post and is visible for miles.

Much of the mountainous border area is off-limits to journalists, but some tanks sitting on trucks could be seen at a base in Silopi, a town 9 miles from the border. Trucks carrying soldiers also are on the roads.

Turkish political and military leaders are discussing whether to mount an offensive to try to quell increased activity by the PKK rebels. The army, which last carried out a major incursion into Iraq a decade ago, estimates 3,800 guerrillas operate from Iraq and 2,300 inside Turkey.

Attacks by Turkish Kurds usually rise in the summer, but a recent suicide bombing in the capital, Ankara, and a bomb that killed six Turkish soldiers — both blamed on guerrillas — have tested Turkey's diminishing patience.