Turkey’s government said on Sunday night it would “pay whatever price is needed” to crush PKK Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq after the deaths of at least 17 Turkish soldiers raised pressure in Ankara for a full military incursion across the border.

The statement followed an emergency meeting of senior cabinet members and military personnel, chaired by President Abdullah Gul, to discuss the security situation on Turkey’s border with Iraq after the clash between the armed forces and the PKK in which the soldiers died. Turkish defence minister Vecdi Gonul said that 17 soldiers had been killed in the attack in the province of Hakkari early on Sunday, 16 had been injured and 10 were missing.