Kurdish rebels killed at least 12 Turkish soldiers and wounded 16 others in an ambush today, prompting Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to call crisis talks to consider a military strike against rebel bases in Iraq. An estimated 23 rebels were also killed.
The attack, one of the worst in more than a decade by rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), came four days after Turkey's parliament approved a motion to allow troops to enter northern Iraq to fight guerrillas hiding there.
"We are very angry... Our parliament has granted us the authority to act and within this framework we will do whatever has to be done," Mr Erdogan told reporters.
He said military and government officials would meet at 6pm (Irish time) under President Abdullah Gul to decide the response. Mr Gul said: "Iraq continues to harbour terrorists and Turkey has the right to eliminate the terrorists. Parliament has given the authorisation for this."
In Iraq, Kurdish rebels said they killed at least 16 Turkish soldiers and had taken "several" hostage in the clashes. "We cannot give details on how many we have captured, all I can say is that they are not in Iraq. They are in Turkey," a senior PKK source said.
Turkey's military general staff said 12 soldiers and 23 rebels were killed in the clashes. Turkey shelled areas inside Iraq on Sunday morning but no casualties were reported.
In a separate incident today, a landmine killed one civilian and wounded at least 13 more in a minibus travelling near to where the soldiers were killed.
The United States, Turkey's NATO ally, and Iraq have urged Ankara to refrain from military action, fearing this could destabilise the most peaceful part of Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein.