Turkey allows family visit to jailed Kurdish leader

The autonomy-seeking group abandoned a two-year ceasefire in July, reigniting a conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 lives since 1984.

The move comes after Turkey declared a state of emergency following a July 15 coup attempt and suspended tens of thousands of people from government jobs over suspected links to a US -based cleric accused of masterminding the coup.

Turkey has detained more than 100 journalists since the events of July 15, in which rogue soldiers commandeered tanks and fighter jets, bombing parliament and other key buildings in an attempt to seize power. He also said administrators would be appointed to 28 municipalities. Gulen denies any involvement.

Turkey’s state-run news agency says the imprisoned leader of the Kurdish rebels will be allowed to meet with family during an upcoming Islamic holiday. It fired about 50,000 people after that failed coup.

Speaking in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, which has been repeatedly hit by PKK attacks, Yildirim said some 14,000 teachers serving in the region were suspected of being linked to terrorism.

“We have run and are now running the largest operations against the P.K.K. terrorist organization in its history, both within and across our borders”, Mr. Erdogan said on Thursday. The organization has been waging a war since 1974, when it took up arms to fight for an independent Kurdish state in Turkey’s east and south.

The new wave of anti-P.K.K. actions came amid a flurry of diplomacy in Ankara, where European officials met with Turkish leaders in an effort to save a deal that has curbed the flow of illicit immigration to Europe for the past year.

“With the mandate given us by state decrees, the administration of 28 municipalities will not continue with terrorists, [or] instruction from Qandil, but with nationals who embrace this [Turkish] flag with its crescent and star”, said Soylu, referring to the headquarters of the terrorist organization PKK in Iraq’s Qandil Mountains. Several hundred teachers gathered in front of the education ministry’s provincial building Tunceli to protest, Reuters TV footage showed.

The operations are part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls his latest offensive to weed out PKK militants.