Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan accused the United States on Monday of supporting Kurdish militants who Ankara says executed 13 kidnapped Turks in northern Iraq, adding that a US statement of condemnation was a "a joke."
Turkey said on Sunday militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) executed the captives, including military and police personnel, amid a military operation against the group.
The United States said it stood by Turkey and that it condemned the killings if it was confirmed that responsibility lay with the PKK.