Eight Turkish soldiers, kidnapped last month in an ambush by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, were released in northern Iraq, local sources told Reuters on Sunday.
The release of the soldiers came just after the Iraqi government vowed to hunt down Kurdish guerrilla leaders responsible for cross-border raids into Turkey in an effort to avert a major incursion by the Turkish military.
The PKK guerrillas killed at least 12 soldiers and abducted eight soldiers in an attack on a Turkish army post near the Iraq last month.
The attack sparked a huge public outcry in Turkey and calls for an offensive against the militants based in northern Iraq.
Turkish media have said three lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) were in northern Iraq for talks to have the soldiers freed.
The Turkish government rejected any talk with the PKK for the release of the soldiers, but said it was doing everything necessary for their return. ( Reuters )