The emergency meeting, chaired by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, brought together army chief Ilker Basbug, senior generals, cabinet ministers, and the heads of the Turkish intelligence agency and the police force.

The talks camme after the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels, backed by heavy weapons fire from their positions in northern Iraq, attacked a military post in Semdinli town, Hakkari province, on Friday, killing 15 soldiers.

Twenty-three PKK rebels were killed in the ensuing clashes, the bloodiest this year.

Earlier Saturday, Turkish President Abdullah Gul vowed that Ankara was determined to crush PKK rebels waging a 24-year separatist campaign "whatever the cost."