Gunfire and clashes persisted overnight in the southeastern Turkish town of Cizre, the heart of a large-scale security offensive now in its sixth day in which 110 Kurdish militants have so far been killed, security sources said on Sunday. Police reportedly fired tear gas and plastic bullets to disperse the crowds.
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The operation is taking place in three Kurdish towns Cizre, Silopi and Sur, along the Turkish borders with Syria and Iraq, where Ankara claims the PKK has been intensifying its presence.
Around 300 houses have been damaged by the clashes and undetonated mortar shells lie inside buildings, security sources and witnesses said.
The conflict has surged again since a two-year ceasefire collapsed in July. About 10,000 troops have been deployed, according to local media.
“We will not get exhausted”, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a speech to his ruling party’s supporters.
The protesters gathered to demonstrate against security operations and curfews in the southeast, where more than 100 have been killed this week.
One soldier who was wounded in clashes in rnak’s Cizre district died on December 20 the Turkish Armed Forces said in a written statement.
On Thursday, Erdogan stated the PKK fighters would be “annihilated”.
The PKK, deemed a terrorist organisation by the United States and the European Union, has been fighting an insurgency since 1984, demanding greater Kurdish autonomy in the southeast of the country.
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The operation – which has targeted the towns of Cizre and Silopi in Sirnak province, as well as a neighbourhood in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the region – began on Wednesday, according to the army.
