The incident occurred Monday in a mountainous area near the town of Cukurca, on the Iraqi border, where soldiers were conducting a security operation against the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the statement said.

The PKK frequently uses remote-control landmines to attack the security forces.

The group, listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community, has waged an armed campaign for self-rule in the Kurdish-majority southeast since 1984.

The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.