"The response Turkey adopted in the South East since the summer of 2015 caused violations of human rights in its own right, due to measures which involve problems of proportionality and legality," Nils Muiznieks, commissioner for human rights, said.
Round-the-clock curfews and military operations have become a fact of life in eastern and southeastern Turkey since peace process between Ankara and the Kurdish separatist group the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) broke down in July 2015.
PKK is outlawed in Trukey and the European Union as a terrorist organization. Muiznieks, who last visited Turkey in September, reaffirmed it had the right to fight terrorism in all its forms.
He added however that anti-terror operations had led to tremendous destruction in Kurdish-populated several cities and a hugely disproportionate number of civilians affected, which reinforced a perception of collective punishment among the local population.
