World Bulletin / News Desk

Following Tuesday morning's clashes between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish security forces, pro Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) leader Selahattin Demirtaş said PKK should immediately lay down its arms to give an end to bloodshed.

Eight soldiers were killed and 16 wounded in a deadly attack staged by the PK in the southeastern province of Hakkari on Tuesday morning. Also 10 PKK militants were killed when the security units immediately responded to the attack with heavy fire.

Demirtaş submitted his condolences to the families of slain soldiers and added, “This war should end. We should not let our youth to kill each other. For God’s sake, everyone should do something to end this fight.”

The Dağlıca battalion, which oversees border security in the area to prevent militants from crossing into Turkey, has been attacked several times in the past.

In one of the more deadly attacks, 12 soldiers were killed and eight captured by the PKK during an attack on Oct. 21, 2007. The incident sparked public anger and outrage as the captured soldiers were held by the militant organization in northern Iraq for a few weeks.

The PKK, which is fighting for autonomy in Turkey's mainly Kurdish Southeast, was founded on Marxist ideology. Turkey has been conducting airstrikes on PKK camps in Iraq's northern mountains and inside Turkey since August of last year, following an increase in attacks on Turkish troops and civilians by the PKK.

The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives. The group is labeled a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States, which has supplied Predator drones to assist Turkey.