ANKARA, November 13. /TASS/. More than 2,000 Turkish forces are taking part in a new operation against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish militant group, in southeastern Turkey, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

Operation Kiran-6 is carried out in the provinces of Van, Hakkari and Sirnak. Its goal is to prevent the PKK’s preparations for winter, when its members set up fortifications and create infrastructure in order to ensure activity on Turkish soil. The operation involves 2,360 personnel from police and regional security forces.

Since 1984, the PKK has been fighting for independence in the southeastern regions of Turkey, where the Kurdish population dominates. In 2015, the conflict escalated, a few thousand Turkish military personnel died along with hundreds of militants. Turkey as well as Iran has branded the PKK as a separatist terror organization.