Turkey lifts curfew in Nusaybin

The Turkish government has lifted a curfew in the southeastern district of Nusaybin in Mardin province, the scene of fighting between Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists and security forces.

The district governor's office declared that the curfew, which has been in effect for nearly three weeks, ended at 8 am on Thursday morning. “The curfew, imposed on November 13, 2015 Friday as of 9 pm, was intended to ensure safety of life and property of citizens and restore peace and security environment, which had been deteriorated, amid increasing terrorist activities," the district governor said in his statement.

After the curfew was imposed in the tense district, police launched several operations to close ditches, dug by PKK terrorists to plant explosives, and to erect barricades the terrorists had used to prevent access to remote areas of Mardin province.

Clashes and explosions have been heard constantly in the district since the curfew went into effect. There have been intensified clashes between security forces and members of the seperatist organisation.

The Turkish military began hitting PKK targets in the southeast and northern Iraq on July 24 after two police officers were found dead in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa in an attack launched by the PKK, apparently in reprisal for a suicide bombing which left more than 30 people dead in Suruç town.

Violence has escalated sharply after the attack in Suruç, which was blamed on the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Since then, the PKK has been blocking roads, setting fire to vehicles and attacking state-run construction projects in the predominantly-Kurdish region.