Turkey ends military operations in Kurdish city of Cizire

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey officially announced on Thursday that its military operations against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters in the Kurdish city of Cizire is over but the curfew will remain in place until further notice.

Turkey’s Interior Minister Efkan Ala announced the end of the military operations against PKK fighters in the Cizre district of the southeastern province of Şırnak.

“Today, operations have just ended... Operational activities in Cizre ended successfully. Search activities will continue from now on. Curfews will also continue for a while as in the case in Silopi,” Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News quoted Efkan Ala as saying.

He added: “We believe that it [the operation] will be completed in Cizre within a few days. In Sur, it may take one or two weeks but there too, 85-90 percent [of the operation] has been completed. In Cizre, the cleaning of ditches and holes and eliminating of mines is 99 percent complete."

Turkey and the PKK reignited fighting last July, ending a two-year old peace process.