Eight Turkish soldiers, kidnapped last month in an ambush by outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party militants, have been released in northern Iraq and flown to Turkey.
The release of the soldiers comes a day after the Iraqi government vowed to hunt down Kurdish militants responsible for cross-border raids into Turkey, in an effort to avert a major incursion by the Turkish military.
The US has urged NATO-ally Turkey not to carry out a major offensive, fearing it could destabilise northern Iraq and escalate into a bigger regional crisis.
Release of the soldiers should somewhat ease public pressure on the government to send troops into Iraq.
The move also comes a day before Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is due to hold crucial talks with US president George W Bush in Washington over a potential cross-border offensive.
Turkey has mustered 100,000 troops on the border with Iraq and threatened to go after the PKK if nothing is done to rein them in.
Turkey wants leaders of the PKK arrested and the closure of camps in northern Iraq, which they say have used as bases for cross-border attacks in their 23-year campaign for a homeland in southeastern Turkey.
The Turkish government stepped up pressure on Baghdad to act against the PKK after it killed at least 12 soldiers and captured the eight soldiers in an attack on a Turkish army post near the Iraqi border last month.
