Russia says Turkey "exterminating" Kurds

MOSCOW, Russia (Kurdistan24) -- On Thursday, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Turkey of leading a policy of "exterminating" the Kurdish people.

In a weekly press briefing aired live on K24 TV, the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called on the Turkish government to put an end to a "deliberate policy of resettling the Kurds and violent attacks against them."

Turkish army and Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters have been locked in weeks-long clashes in numerous Kurdish residential areas, notably the towns of Cizre and Silopi in Sirnak Province and the historic central Sur district of the de facto Kurdish capital of Diyarbakir.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) accuses Turkish army of extrajudicial killings. Turkey's human rights organizations and Amnesty International have reported rights violations by Turkish authorities.

Zakharova also voiced support for the hundreds of Turkish, Kurdish, and international academics who signed a petition last week condemning Turkish army operations in Kurdish cities and calling for a renewal of peace talks between Turkey and the Kurds.

Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and pro-government media have repeatedly attacked the academics over the past week, accusing them of treason.

Also on Thursday, during a European Parliament debate on the worsening situation in Turkey's Kurdish region, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the Socialists and Democrats Group (S&D) called on Turkey to return to peace talks with the PKK.

The vice-president for foreign affairs of the group, MEP Knut Fleckenstein, revealed that a delegation from his alliance will travel to Turkey's violence-hit Kurdish region in mid-February, according to a statement released on the S&D website.

Fleckenstein said that the S&D delegation wants "to see the situation on the ground and to support one of our sister parties, the HDP, in their fight for a more democratic, peaceful and equal Turkey."

Editing by Ava Homa,

Khoshewi Muhammad contributed to this report from Moscow