Over 100 Kurdish fighters killed in Turkish operation

Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon on Sunday to disperse hundreds of protesters on an Istanbul street calling for an end to curfews in the southeast. A water cannon truck raced up and down Istiklal Street, a bustling commercial artery, firing short bursts at the protesters.

In Istanbul, riot police chased protesters and pushed shoppers and tourists out of the way.

The protesters gathered to demonstrate against security operations and curfews in the southeast, where more than 100 have been killed this week.

An earlier toll released on Saturday put the figure at 70 dead, with the army saying all were suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Clashes were also reported in Cizre, Nusaybin and Silopi, according to Kurdish activists. A curfew has been imposed on Cizre and Silopi since December 14, the first day of the operation.

The Turkish security forces have killed 78 PKK rebels in the ongoing military operations in the town of Cizre of Sirnak province in southeastern Turkey, the report quoted a security source as saying.

The youth who live in the southeastern part of Turkey have become the target of the terrorist PKK organization, Turkey's prime minister said on Sunday in Ankara.

Almost two months after the second election achieved a stronger-than-expected single party majority for the AK Party, swaths of Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast are still under lockdown.

The military said the operations will continue "until public security is established".

The decades-long conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK have so far claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people, a lot of them Kurds.