(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-22 09:41

ANKARA -- Kurdish rebels killed 17 Turkish soldiers and wounded 16 others in an ambush on Sunday, prompting crisis talks in Ankara to weigh a military strike against rebel bases in Iraq.

People shout slogans against outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Ankara October 21, 2007. [Agencies]

The attack, the worst in more than a decade by separatist rebels of the outlawed Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), came four days after Turkey's parliament overwhelmingly approved a motion to allow troops to enter northern Iraq to fight the guerrillas.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said after crisis talks with civilian and military leaders in Ankara that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had asked for a few days pause before any potential response.

"We expect the United States to take swift steps (against the PKK) befitting of our strategic partnership," Erdogan told a late-night news conference. His comments suggested Turkey was hoping for a last-minute response by Washington against the PKK.

The United States, Turkey's NATO ally, is anxious to avert any Turkish military strikes against the PKK rebels in northern Iraq, fearing this could destabilise the region.

Turkey's tougher stance has already helped propel oil prices to record highs over the past week. The PKK has said it might target pipelines carrying Iraqi and Caspian crude cross Turkey.

Turkey has deployed as many as 100,000 troops, backed by tanks and attack helicopters, along the border. Military planes were seen landing at the airport of Diyarbakir, biggest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast, on Sunday night.

A statement issued by President Abdullah Gul's office said Turkey would pay whatever price was needed to defeat terrorism.

"While respecting the territorial integrity of Iraq, Turkey will not shy away from paying whatever price is necessary to protect its rights, its laws, its indivisible unity and its citizens," said the statement, issued after the crisis talks.

It made no direct mention of a possible military response.

Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul told reporters in Kiev after talks with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates that 17 soldiers had been killed, 16 injured and 10 others were still missing.

Asked if there would be a military response to those attacks near the Iraqi border, Gonul said: "Not urgently. They (Turkish troops) are planning a cross-border (incursion) ... We'd like to do these things with the Americans."

Gates said he did not believe Ankara would launch a major cross-border operation imminently. He also said Gonul implied there was reluctance to act unilaterally against the PKK.

BUSH CONDEMNS PKK

US President George W. Bush condemned the attacks.

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