Fifteen Turkish soldiers killed in clashes with PKK

ANKARA (Reuters) - Fifteen Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with Kurdish separatist PKK rebels in southeast Turkey on Friday, Turkey's General Staff said, in one of the deadliest attacks on the military this year.

At least 23 members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) were also killed after rebels armed with "heavy weapons" attacked a military outpost in the Semdinli region bordering Iraq and Iran, the military said.

The attack is likely to put pressure on Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to strike back at the PKK.

Turkey has attacked PKK bases in mountainous northern Iraq several times over the past 12 months, but has confined itself to shelling and air strikes since a brief land offensive in February.

The General Staff said two Turkish soldiers were missing and that an operation was under way to rescue them. It said the rebels had received back-up from PKK bases in Iraq.

Erdogan was on an official visit to Turkmenistan on Saturday but said he was returning to Turkey for an emergency security meeting.

"The struggle against terrorism will continue with the same determination as before," he told an audience in Ashgabat.

Parliament is this month likely to approve a government request to extend a mandate to launch military operations against the PKK in Iraq as needed. The current mandate expires on October 17