Turkish air, ground forces hit PKK bases

ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The Turkish air force conducted strikes on separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party locations on both sides of the Turkey-Iraq border, the military said.

The F-16 fighter-bombers took off from an air base in the mainly Kurdish Diyarbakir province to join ground forces in response to a terrorist attack by Kurdish rebels Wednesday in which 24 Turkish soldiers were killed, RIA Novosti reported.

"A large-scale land operation backed with airstrikes has begun in five separate spots inside Turkey and across the border with 22 battalions," the Turkish military said in a statement.

About 10,000 troops were deployed to the region.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Ankara Friday to discuss cooperation against the Kurdish militants known by the initials PKK, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

On Thursday, thousands of people across Turkey protested the attacks on the soldiers in Hakkari province, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

"Words would not suffice to describe our pain. We bleed our pain internally for the well-being of our nation and our state. Those who have accounts to settle with the Turkish Republic are attacking from all sides. This state is ours; let us claim it," Turgay Cetin, provincial representative of the Turkish Public Workers' Union, said after a rally in Nevsehir province.