9 November 2016, 15:31 GMT
ANKARA (Sputnik) – Nineteen members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) outlawed in Turkey were killed in the southeastern province of Mardin by the Turkish Armed Forces, the country's General Staff said in a statement on Thursday.
"The members of the separatist terrorist organization [PKK] were identified in the Bestler-Dereler area of the province of Mardin as part of an operation of the Turkish Armed Forces to prevent terrorist training for the winter period. The operations involved drones. Nineteen terrorists were killed, one was apprehended," the statement read.
Tensions between Ankara and Turkish Kurds escalated in July 2015 when a ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK collapsed over a series of terrorist attacks, allegedly committed by PKK members.
