Violence kills 30 in Kurdish town

At least 30 people have died in clashes in the Turkish city of Cizre since a military operation began there last week, Turkey's interior ministry said yesterday.

The ministry said most of the dead were Kurdish militants but the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) said 20 civilians were killed in the violence.

Locals say Cizre has been "under siege" since the military imposed a curfew.

Police yesterday stopped a delegation of HDP leaders who were trying to reach the south-eastern city on foot.

The group includes the party's leader Selahattin Demirtas and 30 members of parliament, who say they want to draw attention to what is happening in the mainly Kurdish area.

They were intercepted by police near Idil, 28km from Cizre.

Turkish Police officer Aylin Tasan, (2-R) wife of Sergeant Okan Tasan, cries during the funeral of her soldier husband in Ankara. Photo: AFP

On Wednesday, Demirtas warned the country was heading towards civil war.

Turkish prosecutors are currently investigating the HDP leader for insulting the president. They want to have the MP stripped of his parliamentary immunity.

Turkey is to hold new elections in November after inconclusive polls in June.

More than 40,000 people have died since the PKK launched an armed campaign in 1984, calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey.

The ceasefire that began in 2013 unravelled in July, after a suicide bombing by suspected Islamic State militants near the border with Syria. The attack led to mutual recriminations between Kurdish groups and Turkey.