Turkey is asking its coalition partners, including the United States, to take part in a ground operation in Syria, in a new attempt to end the country's civil war.
"If there is a consensus, Turkey will take part. Without a ground operation, it is impossible to stop this war," an official said.
But Turkey would only act with support.
"Turkey is not going to have a unilateral ground operation," the official said. "We are asking coalition partners that there should be a ground operation. We are discussing this with allies."
In recent weeks, a Russian-backed offensive has carried the Syrian army to within 15 miles of Turkey's border.
Plus Kurdish fighters - whom Turkey regards as hostile insurgents - have exploited weaknesses in other rebel groups to extend their presence along the frontier.
On Monday, Turkey warned Kurdish fighters that they would face the "harshest reaction" if they tried to capture the town of Azaz, where 14 people were killed in a missile strike, which Ankara blames on Russia, on Monday.
The Turkish military said its artillery had returned fire into Syria again on Tuesday - the fourth day in a row of shelling.
Meanwhile, Russia rejected Turkish accusations that it committed a war crime on Monday, when almost 50 people were killed after missiles struck five medical centres and two schools in northern Syria.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters: "We categorically do not accept such statements, the more so as every time those making these statements are unable to prove their unfounded accusations in any way."
One of the strikes was against a hospital in Muratt al Numan, run by the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), which blamed Russian or Syrian government forces and claimed it had been deliberately targeted.
The UN’s spokesman on human rights, Rupert Colville, said: "Clearly Syrian and Russian planes are very active in this area. They should know who is responsible ... If it was deliberate, intentional targeting of those facilities, it could amount to a war crime."
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the attacks "cast a shadow on commitments" made at a Munich conference last week, which includeda pledge to hold a ceasefire within a week and end attacks on civilians.
The Syrian President, Bashar al Assad, has also expressed doubts: "Who will speak to the terrorists if a terrorist organisation refused to adhere to the ceasefire?
"Who will make them accountable? If they wanted to bomb them where can we find them? From a practical perspective, all this is difficult to implement."
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