PKK terror group is in cooperation with Assad: Turkish PM

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said on Saturday that the separatist terrorist organization is working in cooperation with Assad to drag Turkey into the devastating civil war in Syria.

While addressing an audience in the eastern Turkish province of Bingöl, Davutoğlu said the PKK is targeting Turkey's peace, as it has become a subcontractor and pawn of the powers seeking to disrupt peace and stability in Turkey.

He said that the PKK prefers chaos and instability rather than peace and safety, adding that the group is cooperating with the Assad regime, which kills its own civilians.

Both the PKK and Assad took part in sectarian conflict, he said, and added Turkey would not be a part of any sectarian conflict in the region.

He said the PKK broke down the ceasefire in 2015, and the group is the responsible for what happened in the southeast.

PKK, an officially recognized terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and the EU, has been conducting armed violence for more than 31 years and killed at least 40,000 people.

The Turkish military has intensified its operations against the PKK terror group in southeastern part of the country since last summer, when the terrorist group resumed its insurgency and broke a 2-year-long truce.

After a three-year-long ceasefire, the group resumed attacking security personnel, civilians, children and women last summer.

Since then, Turkish military and police forces have been conducting joint operations in several cities, while operations in Cizre and Silopi were successfully completed.

Turkish PM also emphasized that he believed the people of Bingöl will show strong support for a referendum on a new constitution planned to be ready within a short time.