( CNN ) -- The United States is urging Turkey to show restraint after Kurdish rebels attacked its forces on Sunday , killing at least 17 Turkish soldiers and wounding 16 others near Turkey 's border with Iraq and Iran , according to Turkey 's defense minister . A Turkish soldier walks through the village of Senoba , Turkey , near the border with Iraq . The initial response by Turkish forces was to hit back by killing 32 rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party , or PKK , in southern Turkey , according to a statement on an official government Web site . Sunday 's deadly attack on Turkish soldiers prompted outrage among citizens in Istanbul , Turkey , who took to the streets in protest . Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said that , in addition to the 17 killed , 10 Turkish soldiers were missing after the ambush in southern Turkey . He denied reports they had been abducted by PKK rebels . Shortly after the attack , a wedding convoy tripped a landmine in Daglica , Turkey , near the ambush site , a Turkish government source said . The attack wounded 12 people and is believed to have been the work of PKK rebels , the source said . Watch CNN 's Nic Robertson report on the attack » . After an emergency meeting Sunday of Turkey 's military and political leaders President Abdullah Gul issued a statement saying : `` We will continue on our path of determination in fighting the terrorist organization . We respect Iraq 's national borders . But [ we ] will not tolerate those who help and harbor terrorists . '' There are fears that the escalation in fighting could spill into northern Iraq 's Kurdish region , where Turkey insists the PKK leadership is based . But Iraq denies that , saying PKK leaders are hiding out in rugged mountain areas along the Turkish border that are not controlled by Iraq . Cross-border shelling between Turkish forces and PKK rebels in northern Iraq continued Sunday . Iraqi leaders fear Turkish ground forces could make a major push into northern Iraq after Turkey 's parliament approved such an incursion in an overwhelming vote last week . Gonul on Sunday assured U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates that Ankara would not to carry out an imminent ground incursion , but he did not abandon the possibility of sending Turkish troops into northern Iraq , which Gonul called `` a safe haven '' for PKK rebels . Gonul and Gates met in Kiev , Ukraine . Gates said : `` A major cross-border operation would be contrary to Turkey 's interests as well as to our own and that of Iraq . '' Iraq 's President Jalal Talabani , who is Kurdish , addressed the rising tensions with Turkey during a meeting with Kurdish regional leader Massoud Barzani in Irbil , the capital of Iraq 's Kurdistan region . Talabani reiterated Iraq 's demand that PKK rebels lay down their arms , and restated calls for a diplomatic solution . He also said Sunday that Iraqi forces are unable to find the rebel leaders because of the difficult landscape . `` The Turkish military , with its mightiness , could not annihilate them or arrest them , so how could we arrest them and hand them to Turkey ? '' Talabani said at a news conference following his meeting with Barzani . Turkey 's parliament last week passed a measure that enables its military to launch an incursion into northern Iraq and chase down Kurdish rebels . Although Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the vote in his parliament last week would n't necessarily trigger immediate military action against the PKK , the United States and Iraqi officials have been in high diplomatic gear for days in efforts to keep Turkey from carrying out the proposed cross-border assaults against the rebels . The United States fears a large-scale military operation by Turkey in northern Iraq would undermine the stability of the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad and jeopardize supply lines that support U.S. troops in Iraq . Tariq al-Hashimi , one of Iraq 's two vice presidents and a top Sunni Arab leader , met with Turkish leaders last week about the tensions along the Iraq-Turkish border , and said the talks `` ended in good results , '' his office said in a statement . Iraq 's Kurdish region -- which consists of Duhuk , Irbil and Sulaimaniya provinces -- has had a close economic relationship with Turkey , and the passage of the Turkish measure has stoked anger there . When asked how Iraq 's government would respond to the possibility of Turkish ground forces in northern Iraq , Barzani urged dialogue with Turkey but said Iraqi forces would act `` in self-defense . '' `` We will not be a part of any such conflict , '' Barzani said . `` But if we are targeted directly we will defend ourselves . '' E-mail to a friend . CNN 's Jomana Karadsheh in Baghdad and Talia Kayali in Atlanta contributed to this report .
Kurdish rebels kill at least 12 Turkish soldiers , Turkish government says . Turkish forces respond by killing 32 PKK rebels , government says . Fighting taking place inside Turkey near border with Iraq and Iran . NEW : Turkey holds emergency cabinet meeting ; U.S. urges restraint .