Security measures tightened in SE Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

Security precautions have been increased Wednesday in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir province, where anti-PKK operations are ongoing, the governorship announced Wednesday.

Security measures were tightened after the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair, Selahattin Demirtas, called for residents of Diyarbakir to march to Sur to protest the curfew imposed in the district.

Governor Huseyin Aksoy had previously called on the district’s citizens to act with common sense.

"I wish that none from Diyarbakir participates in any illegal acts,” Aksoy said on Tuesday. “In that sense, I call on everyone [to show] common sense."

In a statement issued Wednesday, the governor’s office has also banned the entry to Sur, which will not apply to district residents, for the sake of Diyarbakir's "peace and security".

Turkey's southeast has been the scene of significant military operations since December against the terrorist PKK group, which renewed its armed campaign against the Turkish state in late July 2015.

Since then, more than 280 security forces personnel have been martyred and thousands of PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.