On February 11, Turkey's Interior Minister Efkan Ala said that Turkish security forces had finalized the anti-terrorist operation in the mainly Kurdish towns of Cizre and Silopi.
"Starting March 2, the 24-hour curfew will be canceled in Cizre, it will instead operate from 7.30 p.m. to 5.00 a.m. The same regime will operate in Silopi, where the duration of the curfew will be shortened by one hour," a statement on the Sirnak province administration website said.
In summer 2015, Turkey initiated a military campaign against the PKK militant group in the country's southeastern regions, mostly inhabited by Kurds. Since the beginning of the campaign, Ankara has imposed several round-the-clock curfews, preventing civilians from fleeing the regions where the military operations are taking place.
According to the head of Turkish Human Rights Association, Ozturk Turkdogan, the curfew in the country's southeast contradicts the constitution.
