Tens killed in clashes in Turkey’s Kurdish southeast

ISTANBUL: At least nine civilians and 16 separatist fighters were killed as security forces try to root out Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast, the army and the region’s biggest parliamentary party said separately on Monday.

Security forces have imposed 24-hour curfews as part of efforts to drive out the PKK, which has declared autonomy and sealed off entire districts in some urban centres in the region.

Parts of Cizre and the Sur district of Diyarbakir, the region’s largest city, have been under curfew since December.

Ten of the 16 militants killed were in Cizre and six were in Sur, the military said on its website.

That brought the death toll in the two places to 749 since December, it said.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said the operations in Cizre may draw to a close in the next few days.

"It is obvious that (the PKK) is implementing methods to destabilise cities in Turkey.

In this regard, Cizre is a critical town, situated so close to the border, exploitable for weapons and terrorists to cross," he said.

Fighting flared in July, wrecking a ceasefire and slow-moving peace talks aimed at ending the three-decade insurgency which has killed 40,000 people.