TUNCELI, Turkey, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Kurdish separatist leaders said on Tuesday the September 11 attacks on the United States had prompted them to drop the name of their group to show they were seeking change through political means.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose commander Abdullah Ocalan was captured in 1999 and sentenced to death for treason, said it aimed to change its name at a party congress within the next few days.

"After the events that took place on September 11, new international solutions are needed. The whole world, especially the Middle East, has changed," rebel leaders based in northern Iraq said in a statement sent to Kurdish satellite television channel, Medya TV.

"By taking the necessary steps, the PKK has entered this new period," they added.

The PKK's 17-year-long armed struggle for self-rule in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey has claimed more than 30,000 lives, but fighting largely ended after Ocalan's arrest.

Turkey describes the PKK guerrillas as "terrorists" but unsuccessfully lobbied the European Union to include the group on its list of deemed terrorist organisations.

"From today onwards, the PKK's organisational and party endeavours in Turkey and countries belonging to the European Union have been stopped. No work will be conducted under the PKK name," the statement said.

Sources close to the PKK said alternative names being considered were the Democratic Republic Party or the Kurdistan Freedom Party.

But the leaders also hinted they could resort to arms again if their cultural demands failed to be met.

"Turkey, God willing, needs to realise our positive, democratic steps are not permanent," the PKK statement said.

Ocalan has ordered his followers to withdraw from Turkey and seek cultural rights for Turkey's 12 million Kurds through political means.

Turkey has dismissed Ocalan's peace overture as a ruse to escape execution and said it will never negotiate with the PKK.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit last month ruled out Kurdish language education, saying bringing the Kurdish language to Turkish classrooms would erode the country's unity.

The EU, which Turkey hopes to join, has counselled Ankara to expand civil liberties for Kurds.

Turkish soldiers regularly pursue PKK fighters into the mountains of northern Iraq, where the army says about 5,000 guerrillas are encamped.