ANKARA, March 18. /TASS/. Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc stated that the government will continue to fight the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is banned in the country, with all its might unless it complies with its leader Abdullah Ocalan’s call to lay down its arms.

"The appeal was not directed at the state, but at the organization. It calls for holding a congress, dissolving the party, and that all factions lay down arms. If the condition to lay down arms is not met, the fight against terrorism will continue. Abandoning this fight is not up for discussion," the minister told reporters in Ankara.

Meanwhile, he emphasized that it is too early to say what the next steps in addressing the Kurdish issue will be, as it is necessary to first "wait and see if [Ocalan's] appeal yields results."

Commenting on the possibility of easing the detention conditions for Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence on Imrali Island in the Sea of Marmara, Tunc clarified that "any individual changes or improvements [to the conditions of detention] are off the table." "We are continuously working to improve our [prison] legislation as a whole," he added.

Meanwhile, representatives from the official pro-Kurdish DEM party requested permission from the Justice Ministry on Monday to visit Ocalan. According to the party's co-chairman, Tuncer Bakirhan, the DEM delegation hopes to travel to the island where PKK leader is being held by March 21, ahead of Nowruz, the Persian New Year, which is widely observed by Kurds. If the Justice Ministry approves the request, it will mark the fourth visit by politicians to Ocalan in recent months; in previous years, visiting him was nearly impossible.

On February 27, Ocalan called on all PKK-affiliated formations to lay down their arms and cease armed confrontation with the Turkish state, and the organization itself to dissolve. The Turkish government considers the PKK and all affiliated militias in Syria and Iraq to be terrorist groups and demands their elimination.