A Turkish army sergeant was shot dead by a Kurdish militant near the Iraqi border Tuesday, the military said.

The soldier in civilian clothes "was shot in the head in front of a bank... by a member of the separatist terrorist organization" in Semdinli in the mainly Kurdish southeast, the army said, using a term for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Ankara could not continue the peace process with the Kurds amid continuing attacks against Turkish targets.

"It is not possible to carry on the (peace) process with those who target our national unity and brotherhood," he said, referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

NATO vowed strong support for Turkey's fight against "terrorism" at an emergency meeting Tuesday called to discuss Ankara's strikes against Islamic State fighters and Kurdish rebels.

The rare talks came as an uncompromising President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara could not continue its peace process with the Kurds amid fresh attacks on Turkish targets.

Saudi King Salman has expressed support for Turkey after it launched air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria and Kurdish militants in Iraq, state media reported on Tuesday.

The king told President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday that he backed Turkey's right to self-defense, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

Hadi al-Ameri, a top leader of Iraq's powerful Shiite paramilitaries, argued Monday there was no evidence Turkey had changed its position on the Islamic State jihadist group.

"I think (the strikes) Turkey carried out were to support to Daesh (IS) and not what some had imagined," said Ameri, a top leader of the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) force.

Turkey's foreign minister said Monday that Kurdish rebels "never respected" the peace process with Ankara, with a ceasefire now in tatters after a series of attacks and cross-border offensives.

Militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) -- who have waged a decades-long insurgency in southeastern Turkey -- "never ended their terrorist acts", Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a visit to Lisbon.

Turkey has not asked for substantial military help from NATO in its campaign against the Islamic State group and Kurdish militants, the alliance's chief said ahead of a emergency meeting to discuss the fighting.

Jens Stoltenberg also warned Turkey that its bombing campaign could endanger the progress that has been made in recent years towards reaching a peace deal with Kurdish militants.

Turkey will not send ground troops into neighboring Syria where it has been bombing Islamic State positions, a campaign that could "change the balance" in the region, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying on Monday.

"We will not send ground forces," Davutoglu told a group of Turkish newspaper editors according to the Hurriyet daily.

The United States and Turkey have agreed to work together to clear the Islamic State group from northern Syria, a senior U.S. official said Monday.

"The goal is to establish an ISIL-free zone and ensure greater security and stability along Turkey's border with Syria," the official told AFP, using an acronym for the jihadist group.

An Australian nurse who allegedly joined Islamic State in Syria was Monday remanded in custody on terror charges relating to carrying out guard duty and reconnaissance for the militants.

Adam Brookman, a 39-year-old father-of-five, is accused of knowingly providing support to IS between April 2010 and August 2014 to help "prepare or foster" a terrorist act.