Turkey: PKK urged to leave country 'for sake of peace'

SIRNAK, Turkey

A group of 120 influential leaders from eastern and southeastern provinces of Turkey have urged the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to leave the country for the sake of peace.

The leaders from Diyarbakir, Sanliurfa, Mardin, Sirnak and Mus provinces made the plea in a joint press statement on Tuesday.

One of the leaders, Mehmet Sirin Akcay, read the statement in Sirnak. "We want armed members to stop violence and leave the country as soon as possible for ensuring again peace in the country," Akcay said.

Akcay added that weapons were not a way of solving problems. "Our region needs peace, tranquility and common sense, not weapons.”

He also said that they were ready to give support to the "solution process" with the PKK.

The fighting between the PKK and the security forces saw a fragile lull for a two-and-a-half year period from early 2013 in what is publicly known as the "solution process" in an attempt to end the conflict. The efforts led by the Turkish government were abandoned in June when the PKK renewed its armed struggle.

Operations against the PKK -- listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the EU and U.S. -- came after it renewed attacks on Turkish security forces following the July 20 Suruc bombing that killed dozens of people.