"The terror will not be over... Unless we cooperate for a ground operation," Erdogan said in a televised speech in the eastern city of Gaziantep.
He added that air strikes being carried out by a US-led coalition to help Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State (IS) jihadists for Kobane were not enough on their own.
"Months have passed but no results have been achieved. Kobane is about to fall," he told an audience mainly composed of Syrian refugees in the city's Islahiye camp.
The Turkish parliament last week week authorised the government to take military action against IS extremists.
But Turkey has so far announced no plans to carry out military operations, with Ankara apparently seeking a commitment from the West to move against President Bashar al-Assad as well as IS.
"We are following the attacks on Kobane and other towns where our Kurdish brothers live with great concern," Erdogan said.
"We just want peace in this region," he said. "Turkey is on guard and well-equipped for any threats directed against itself," he added.
Erdogan again called for a no-fly zone above Syria and a safe zone to host refugees, and said moderate rebel groups fighting against Assad should be trained and equipped to defeat IS.
Turkey has infuriated Kurds living in the country and outside with its refusal to allow Kurdish fighters over the border to fight IS.
But Erdogan reaffirmed his hostility to Kurdish militants, comparing the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has fought a 30-year insurgency in Turkey with IS.
"Those talking about Kobane are using it as a political bargaining chip and to blackmail us for the peace process," he said.