Turkey has launched a new offensive against the banned Kurdish Workers' Party PKK in northern Iraq.

The Air Force bombed hiding places, tunnels and ammunition depots, among other things, the Ministry of Defense announced on Monday.

Fighter jets, helicopters and armed drones were used.

Ground forces are also deployed.

Turkey justified the offensive with the protection against terrorist attacks and the right to self-defense.

The PKK is on terrorist lists in Turkey, Europe and the US, and has positions in south-eastern Turkey and northern Iraq.

Their headquarters are in the northern Iraqi Kandil Mountains.

The latest attack was focused on the Metina, Zap and Avashin-Basyan regions of northern Iraq, according to the Turkish Defense Ministry.

The operation was coordinated with "friends and allies", it said.

Details on this were not given.

Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintains good relations with the president of the Kurdish autonomous regions in northern Iraq, Masrur Barzani.

The two politicians met in Istanbul on Friday.

The Turkish military has already conducted several operations against the PKK in Iraq and against the Kurdish militia YPG in Syria.

In the past, the scientific service of the Bundestag had doubted whether similar missions were compatible with international law.

Ankara has repeatedly taken military action against PKK positions in south-eastern Turkey.

The PKK, in turn, carries out attacks.

The conflict, which has been going on since 1984, has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people.

A ceasefire failed in the summer of 2015.