Deadly clashes have surged across the mainly Kurdish region since July, when a long-standing ceasefire between the PKK and the government collapsed, with both sides blaming the other.
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The Istanbul police department together with teams from the anti-terrorism branch launched the operation at 05:00 local time (02:00GMT), Dogan News Agency said.
The militants had erected barricades and dug trenches, it said.
More than 150 soldiers and police have been killed in attacks since July blamed on the PKK.
A total of 17 PKK militants have so far been “rendered ineffective” in the ongoing operation backed by tanks and helicopters, Anatolia added.
In the predominantly Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir, security sources said police had imposed a curfew in the Silvan neighbourhood where two soldiers were shot dead by suspected PKK militants on Thursday as they left for work.
During a previous anti-PKK raid in Istanbul on September 16, Turkish authorities detained 13 people.
Several police vehicles were hit by gunfire.
Turkey’s AKP-led government and Ocalan struck a deal in 2013 which ended decades of hostilities between the PKK and Turkish army and effectively ended the fighting.
ANKARA, Turkey-The pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) officially started its election campaign in Ankara on Friday, with its co-leader announcing the party’s opposition to Turkey presidential governing system favored by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
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The escalation comes ahead of snap general election on November 1.
