(Adds court decision)

By Zerin Elci

BALIKESIR, Turkey, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Turkey's powerful generals on Wednesday rejected criticism over the deaths of 17 soldiers in a raid by Kurdish rebels as rare public questioning of the army mounted following a series of attacks.

The armed forces, one the country's most respected institutions and which sees itself as the main guardian of modern Turkey, have been virtually beyond criticism for years.

But its competence has been questioned in some media since attacks this month by the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Turkish media has reported the army had intelligence warnings before a PKK ambush on an outpost in Aktutun near the Iraqi border this month that killed 17 soldiers, the deadliest single attack on the military for more than a year.

Armed forces chief General Ilker Basbug denied the army had received any information before the attack.

"An investigation has started and like any institution which has self-confidence we will make the results of that probe public," Basbug told a news conference, accompanied by the commanders of the land, air, sea and gendarmerie forces.

A military court banned domestic media from publishing stories on the allegations of wrongdoing in the Aktutun attack until the armed forces complete its probe, Turkish TV said.

"GOLFING GENERAL"

The military has also been criticised since Turkish media published photos of General Aydogan Babaoglu, the air force commander, playing golf at a Mediterranean resort while reports of the Aktutun attack emerged and funerals were held.

Some Turkish newspapers have dubbed Babaoglu the "golfing general", and even Hurriyet, Turkey's leading newspaper, has called his behaviour unacceptable.

Turkey's military has unseated four elected governments in the last 50 years and exerts vast influence behind the scenes.

But in recent years it has seen its influence diminish due to reforms imposed by the European Union, which Turkey aspires to join.

The Aktutun attack again raised questions on whether military might was enough to end the violence in impoverished, predominantly Kurdish southeast Turkey, which has long complained of discrimination and lack of investment.

Turkish officials on Tuesday met senior Iraqi Kurdish leaders in Baghdad, including Masoud Barzani, president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, to discuss ways of curbing attacks by Iraq-based PKK rebels on Turkish security forces.

The Turkish government has in the past shunned direct contacts with Iraqi Kurdish leaders. The military and hardline nationalists in Turkey call Barzani a "supporter of terror".

The PKK, which has a large presence in the mountains of northern Iraq from where they are accused of staging attacks inside Turkey, is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

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