Turkey’s Kurds demand ‘no peace until we are finished with terror’

Turkey’s Kurdish minority is demanding a “complete, unconditional and unequivocal” cease-fire between Turkey and the Kurdish rebel group, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to meet Friday with Kurdish leaders to try to bring an end to the five-year war that has left more than 40,000 people dead.

Erdogan has been seeking an agreement to end the conflict in the wake of the killing of five Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq by Kurdish rebels.

The U.S. and its allies say the Kurds have crossed a red line and committed a crime against humanity by firing on Turkish troops and by staging the attacks.

The White House says it is ready to support a halt to hostilities, but the Pentagon has been warning that Turkish artillery, backed by ground troops, are moving closer to the border and that the U.N. Security Council should intervene.

The PKK is a loose coalition of mostly Kurdish groups fighting for autonomy in the southeast of Turkey.

The U.K. says more than 2,000 Turkish soldiers have been killed.

Turkey has denied using chemical weapons in the conflict.

In a televised speech to his supporters on Thursday, Erdogan said Turkey’s armed forces were doing their job and were protecting the Turkish people from terror.

The PYD said it would not surrender until the Kurdish fighters withdraw from the border area between Turkey, Syria and Iraq.PYD spokesperson Nurettin Canikli told CNN that Turkey was not prepared to abide by a cease-Fire.

“We have said repeatedly that the cease-fires between Turkey … and the PKK are a lie and that Turkey should not comply with it,” Caniklu said.

“The truce we are seeking must be respected, but there must be no peace until the PKK is finished with terrorism.”

The PDEA has said that more than 100 people have been wounded, including seven soldiers.

It said a total of 8,000 soldiers are deployed in Turkey, with 4,500 troops on the ground.

“If there is any doubt that Turkey is not going to stop the PKK, let alone stop them from continuing to use chemical weapons, let us say it,” PDEAs spokesperson Ramin Muallem told CNN.

“This is what the ceasefire is all about.”

He said the U tolki operation was only about the return of the military to the line of demarcation, not an agreement.

“The Turkish government should stop its aggression and the violence against our people, including our soldiers and policemen,” he said.

Muallem said Turkey was ready to negotiate a cease fire.