President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that the Turkish Armed Forces have "never used chemical weapons," and legal action will be taken against those who make such accusations.

According to Reuters, media affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) published videos this week showing the Turkish army using chemical weapons against the PKK in northern Iraq.

"Our armed forces have not resorted to using chemical weapons to this day," NTV quoted Erdogan as saying.

The Defense Ministry and senior officials have also denied that the armed forces have used chemical weapons in their operations against Kurdish rebels.

The Turkish prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the head of the Turkish Medical Association, Sebnem Korur Fincanci, after she said on television that the footage indicated the use of toxic gases and called for an independent investigation.

The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that Fincanci was accused of propaganda for a terrorist group and denigrating the Turkish people, the Republic of Turkey and its institutions.

This month, the International Medical Federation published a report of an independent investigation into possible violations of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention by the Turkish military.