Residents in SE Turkey continue to flee PKK violence

The curfew which has been lifted on Gazi Street in the Sur town of the southern province of Diyarbakır prompted residents to flee their homes.

The residents started leaving their town, as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has been threatening security of civilians by attacking mosques and schools and terrorizing the region.

Many families took to the road with as many of their belongings they could carry and left the town where the curfew has been imposed since 11 December, with safety concerns.

Some of the shopowners cleaned the shopfronts, while others took their goods away to other towns.

Some families who have decided to stay in the town did some shopping.

Resident demand help from the state to solve the terror problem. “The PKK militants are threatening residents to make them support the terror organization. But we do not want to support them. So we are leaving the city," a man said.

"We haven't been able to earn money for almost a month now. We want this terror problem to be solved, " another resident said.

Security measures in eastern Turkey were ramped up to prevent any attacks targeting civilians in the regions where curfews were declared and operations conducted against the PKK, which is an armed militant group that has been carrying out terror attacks mostly in southeastern Turkey for more than 30 years.

The group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, NATO, the US, and the EU.