Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan flew to Baghdad on Tuesday for talks with Iraq’s government in an effort to pressure Iraqi and U.S. authorities to crack down on Kurdish guerrillas.
Turkey’s government says it will exhaust all diplomatic channels before launching any military strike into northern Iraq to root out Kurdish separatist rebels, who killed at least a dozen Turkish soldiers in fighting over the weekend.
Babacan was expected to hold talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari and other Iraqi and U.S. officials.
Turkey has built up its forces along the border with Iraq in preparation for an incursion against rebel bases although Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has pressed Iraq to curb the PKK first.
The Turkish General Staff said 12 soldiers died in Sunday’s fighting and 34 rebels had been killed in an army offensive backed up by attack helicopters and artillery over the past two days.
The pro-PKK Firat news agency said eight soldiers had been captured in the fighting. Turkey has denied any of its troops were captured, but confirmed eight soldiers were missing.
Turkey has deployed as many as 100,000 troops, backed by tanks, F-16 fighter jets and helicopter gunships along its border with Iraq.
Turkey estimates 3,000 PKK rebels are based in Iraq, Reuters reports.
