Turkey holds 18 people for 'praising terrorism' after soldiers killed in Iraq

FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers statements, in Budapest, Hungary, December 18, 2023. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo/File Photo

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish police have detained 18 people for "praising terrorism" after the killing of soldiers last week, while a high-level outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) member was "neutralised" in northern Iraq, authorities said on Monday.

Nine Turkish soldiers died in clashes with the PKK in northern Iraq on Friday, prompting Ankara to conduct air strikes and operations both there and in northern Syria.