MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) will boost its fight against Ankara, if Turkey continues its military operation against Kurds, PKK leader Cemil Bayik said Monday.
"The Kurds will defend themselves to the end, so long as this is the Turkish approach — of course the PKK will escalate the war," Bayik told the BBC, speaking about Ankara's actions.
Tensions between Ankara and Turkey's Kurdish population escalated in July 2015 as fighting between the PKK and the Turkish army resumed. Ankara has imposed several round-the-clock curfews in Kurdish-populated towns, preventing civilians from fleeing the regions where the military operations are taking place.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan alleges over 5,000 Kurdish insurgents have been killed in the campaign since mid-December, a figure that pro-Kurdish officials contend includes hundreds of civilians.
