Security

Kurdish militants suspend 'operations' after Turkey quake

"Stop operations in Turkey, in the cities. We have decided to not conduct any operation as long as the Turkish state does not attack."

AFP 2023/02/10 12:08

Men search for people among the debris in a destroyed building in Adana, Turkey, Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. (Photo: Khalil Hamra/ AP)

Turkey PKK Turkey Earthquake

Outlawed Kurdish militants are temporarily suspending "operations" in Turkey after the massive quake in the country and Syria, a PKK leader said.

"Stop operations in Turkey, in the cities. We have decided to not conduct any operation as long as the Turkish state does not attack," leader Cemil Bayik was quoted as saying late Thursday by ANF, a news agency close to Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"The quake caused a massive disaster. Thousands of our people are under the rubble. Everyone must mobilise using all their means," he added.

The PKK has been waging a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state that has killed tens of thousands of civilians and security personnel.

In December, a bomb hit an armoured police van in southeastern Turkey injuring nine. A month later, a bombing killed six people in Istanbul that Ankara blamed on the PKK.