"They have started to withdraw back into Turkish territory," a statement said.

The statement said around 500 Turkish soldiers entered northern Iraq and remained in remote areas along the Iraq-Turkey border.

"There were no clashes," the statement said, referring to some media reports that the Turkish soldiers had clashed briefly with the peshmerga forces of Iraqi Kurdish region.

The Turkish incursion into northern Iraq came two days after Ankara's warplanes bombed several villages along the border targeting the rear-bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The PKK is fighting for a self-rule in southeastern Turkey and more than 37,000 people have died from both the sides since the conflict broke out in 1984.