Turkish operations against Kurdish militants near completion: PM
Date
1/19/2016 12:05:26 PM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) File picture of Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu
By Daren Butler
ISTANBUL: A Turkish security forcecampaign against Kurdish militants in the southeast has beenlargely completed Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was reported
as saying on Tuesday as he outlined plans to maintain tightercontrol in parts of the region.
Turkish police and military launched major operationsagainst Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in several townsacross the mainly Kurdish region last month intensifying aconflict reignited by the collapse of a ceasefire in July.
The army says it killed more than 500 PKK rebels in thecampaign adding to a death toll of more than 40000 peoplekilled since the PKK took up arms in 1984. The pro-Kurdish HDPparty says some 100 civilians have been killed in the fighting.
"The process is to a large extent completed" Davutoglu wasreported as telling reporters on his plane travelling to Londondisclosing plans for a new security structure and reorganisationof state administration in two border provinces.
"It won't be like with old operations withdrawing afterstreets are cleansed. There will be a more orderly securitypresence" the Yeni Safak daily quoted him as saying. "The goalis to build a public order...in which no illegal structure cantake control of any streets" he said.
For much of the 31-year insurgency conflict has focused thecountryside but the latest violence has been in urban areas.
The army says that during the campaign it has removedtrenches and barricades set up by PKK youth wing members to keepsecurity forces out. Thousands of locals have left the towns hitby conflict many complaining of indiscriminate operations.
Davutoglu's comments were published after the governor ofSirnak province said a round-the-clock curfew in the town ofSilopi near the Iraqi border would only be enforced between 6pm (1600 GMT) and 5 am (0300 GMT) from Tuesday.
The town of Cizre further west near the Syrian border andthe Sur district of the region's largest city in Diyarbakirremain under 24-hour curfew.
Davutoglu said there were plans to make Cizre theadministrative centre of Sirnak province as the mountainoustown of Sirnak was in a confined area as part of a "master planin the fight against terror" Milliyet newspaper reported.
There was a similar plan to move the administrative centreof Hakkari province on the Iraqi and Iranian borders toYuksekova because of better security and service infrastructurethere he said.
The PKK which says it is fighting for autonomy for Turkey'sKurds is designated a terrorist group by Turkey the UnitedStates and European Union.
Ankara launched a peace process with the PKK's jailed leaderAbdullah Ocalan in late 2012 but it ground to a halt early in2015 ahead of a general election. Turkey's leaders have saidthey will continue operations until the militants are defeated.
President Tayyip Erdogan said last week some 300 policeofficers and soldiers have died in the conflict since July.
Reuters