PKK group says Turkish ceasefire over

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in a statement released on Saturday announced that a ceasefire with the Turkish government is over, claiming that Ankara has welched on its promises regarding the Kurdish issue in that country.

The Group of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK), an organization inside the PKK, said in a statement that the Turkish government by building an excessive number of dams and security stations in Kurdish areas dishonored the ceasefire that had been sustained since 2012.

“The number of dams that were built is highly disproportionate with the Kurdish region’s energy producing capacity,” said KCK. It added that the Turkish government was previously warned to stop building the dams.

The KCK threatened that it will target the dams and asked people working in those projects to leave.

The KCK claimed the Turkish government has targeted Kurdish citizens and used them as human shields, which resulted in civilian deaths, suggesting that there is a military intention behind building the dams and security stations.

“Our guerrillas with responsibility pledged themselves to honor the ceasefire since the beginning of the process, but the Turkish government with its arbitrary actions has already resumed the war against the Kurdish people,” read the statement.

“The government has started the war against the Kurds and we will not remain silent,” it added.

A 2013 peace process between the government and the PKK has largely stuttered, with Kurdish politicians accusing the government of dragging its feet.

Resumption of armed conflict between the PKK and the Turkish government would be a major blow to the Kurdish–Turkish peace process, which aims to resolve the Kurdish issue in that country.