Turks and Kurds escalate violence

YUKSEKOVA, Turkey, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Turkey's leaders called an emergency meeting Sunday after clashes killed at least 12 soldiers and 23 Kurdish rebels near the Iraqi border.

In a televised address, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his cabinet would "deal with these matters in a cool-headed manner," the BBC reported.

Sunday's border violence also wounded 10 members of a Turkish wedding party when their minibus hit a landmine allegedly planted by the outlawed Workers Party of Kurdistan, or PKK, CNN reported.

Turkish troops moved closer to Iraq after nine soldiers were ambushed Saturday night in Turkey's southeastern Hakkari province. The ambush was the first clash since Turkey's parliament last week authorized cross-border incursions into northern Iraq, reported the Kuwait news agency, KUNA.

Meanwhile, the Kurdish regional government Sunday demanded the PKK leave Iraq and stop and attacking oil facilities, KUNA said.

"We will defend the oil pipelines and all installations linked to the oil wealth against any person and force that may attempt to launch attacks," said Kurdish government spokesman Jamal Abdullah Naabar.

An estimated 3,000 rebel Kurds are accused of killing 30,000 people in their decades long battle for greater autonomy in Turkey.