'Turkey determined to fight promoters of PKK terrorism'

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday underlined Turkey’s determination to combat PKK terrorism and anyone promoting it.

Speaking to journalists in Ankara, the premier made reference to operations in towns and cities in the southeast where security forces are tackling terrorists who use ditches and barricades to keep police and soldiers out of certain neighborhoods.

The government is "determined, driven and strict in the face of everyone digging up ditches in Cizre, Silopi and Sur, as well as those who encourage terror in any illegitimate manner”, he said.

In recent weeks the fight against the PKK has focused on the towns of Cizre and Silopi in Sirnak province, as well as the Sur district of Diyarbakir, the southeast’s largest city, as security forces seek to root out the PKK by imposing curfews.

Since late July, when the PKK resumed its armed campaign, more than 200 members of the security forces have been martyred. In a New Year’s message, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 3,100 PKK members had been killed during 2015.

Davutoglu also warned lawmakers against supporting terrorism and abusing their parliamentary immunity.

"We won’t let anyone be silenced for voicing their opinions as an MP but we will also not put up with anyone who hides behind the armor of immunity and acts in a way that ignores a society's fate and the most basic human right to life," he said.

Selahattin Demirtas, co-chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), last month commented that ditches and barricades were "resistance against the coup" -- a reference to the Nov. 1 general election. He is currently being investigated over remarks he made in favor of Kurdish self-rule.

According to officials, around 200,000 people from the southeast have fled their homes over the last six months to escape the violence.

Anadolu Agency