The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the US Ambassador to Ankara to convey "in the strongest terms" its reaction to the Ambassador’s statement on the killings of 13 captured Turks by Kurdish militants which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called a “joke”.

Turkey on Sunday declared that militants of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) had executed captives, including Turkish soldiers and police officers during hostilities in northern Iraq. The US declared that it would support Turkey and condemn the murders, if it was confirmed that the PKK was responsible for the killings.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also complained about the silence from "countries that are supposedly claiming to battle terrorism”.