Turkey has not asked for NATO military help

Turkey has not asked for substantial military help from NATO in its campaign against Daesh and Kurdish militants, the alliance's chief said Monday, a day before it meets to discuss the fighting, the Hurriyet Daily News reported.

NATO ambassadors are due to meet on July 28 at Ankara's request to discuss the spike of violence between Turkey, Daesh jihadists and Kurdish militants.

"Turkey has a very strong army and very strong security forces. So there has been no request for any substantial NATO military support," Stoltenberg said in an interview with the BBC.

Turkey bombed Daesh positions in Syria for the first time last week, after a suicide bombing blamed on the jihadists killed 32 people on the border with the war-torn nation.

It has also bombed positions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq for the first time in four years, after the militants, who accuse Ankara of colluding with the Islamists, claimed the killing of two police officers.

While applauding Ankara for joining the fight against Daesh, the NATO chief cautioned that "self-defence has to be proportionate".