President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan confirmed an attack on Sunday that killed 15 Turkish soldiers, marking it the bloodiest assault since July's ceasefire breakdown. Since the collapse of the ceasefire, at least 70 members of the security services and hundreds of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants have lost their lives.
Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has called an emergency security meeting.
The outlawed PKK has taken responsibility for the attack in a statement online, according to The World Post. "An attack from several sides left 15 soldiers dead, and a large number of weapons were seized in the action," the statement read.
The PKK has fought a three-decades-long battle with Turkey, insisting on Kurdish independence and self-rule, with more than 40,000 deaths attributed to the PKK clash. PKK is listed by both the U.S. and Europe as a terrorist organization.
The attack took place in the village of Dağlica, in Hakkari province, close to Turkey's borders with Iran and Iraq, according to The Guardian.
Turkish jets had retaliated, said a senior official, hitting several targets, including the PKK members responsible for the attacks.
More than a hundred districts have been declared "temporary security zones" with several towns enforcing curfews in high threat areas, according to the BBC.
