Istanbul ( CNN ) -- Turkish warplanes carried out a second night of airstrikes against suspected Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq , as deadly clashes erupted within Turkey between security forces and guerrilla fighters . Meanwhile , a spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq expressed concern Friday about the Turkish cross border raids . In an interview with CNN , Kawa Mahmoud called on Turkey to resolve its long-simmering conflict with Kurdish separatist through diplomacy , not violence . `` We always emphasize that shelling ( the ) Iraqi border is inconsistent with international conventions and good neighborly relations , and we consider it as intervention and disregard for the sovereignty of the Kurdish and Iraqi territory , '' Mahmoud said , adding `` the bombings directly affect the infrastructure of the region of ( Iraqi ) Kurdistan . '' In a news release Friday , the Turkish military said warplanes and artillery pounded more than 100 targets in rugged mountains of northern Iraq where fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party ( PKK ) have long been active . The Turkish armed forces periodically target what Ankara calls PKK `` safe havens '' and `` attack bases '' in northern Iraq . For more than a decade , these remote border regions have been beyond the authority of the Iraqi central government as well as of the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration that governs the northern part of the country . In the meantime , Turkish officials told CNN two more Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes in a remote region of south-eastern Siirt province Thursday night . An official from the Siirt governor 's office , speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media , said suspected rebel fighters carried out two night-time attacks on local gendarme stations and government buildings using `` rocket launchers and long-range weapons . '' The official said two Turkish soldiers were killed and four wounded in the fighting . He said three rebels including a female fighter were also killed in the clashes . Dozens of Turkish soldiers have been killed over the last month , in a clear escalation of the conflict that has raged intermittently between Kurdish separatists and the Turkish state since 1984 . More than 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict , many of them ethnic Kurds . The Kurds are Turkey 's largest ethnic minority . For decades , Ankara imposed oppressive policies , which banned Kurdish names and language and sometimes referred to the community as `` mountain Turks . '' The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has attempted to improve relations with Turkey 's Kurds in recent years by launching a Kurdish channel on state television and acknowledging `` mistakes were made '' in the way Ankara treated the minorities . But tensions have escalated between Erdogan 's government and the main Kurdish nationalist political party in recent months . After winning a larger number of seats in June parliamentary elections , the main Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party ( BDP ) boycotted the swearing-in ceremony for new lawmakers . Kurdish lawmakers are protesting a decision by Turkey 's electoral board , which disqualified a prominent Kurdish candidate from participating in the June election . Politician Hatip Dicle was barred from running due to a 20-month prison sentence he received for `` making propaganda for a terrorist organization , '' a Turkish reference to the PKK . Meanwhile , riots involving Kurdish youths have periodically erupted in recent months in Istanbul and other Turkish cities .
Turkish military said it pounded more than 100 targets in northern Iraq . Tensions have been escalating between the Turkish government and the Kurdish minority . Two soldiers were killed in clashes in Siirt province , official says .