Ministers quit Turkey govt over 'logic of war' against Kurdish rebels

Ankara: Two Kurdish ministers accused Turkey's government of promoting a "logic of war" as they quit the cabinet on Tuesday, two months after the resumption of fighting between the army and Kurdish rebels.

EU Affairs Minister Ali Haydar Konca and Development Minister Muslum Dogan said the state's two-month-old offensive against the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) had created a "hellish" situation "especially in the Kurdish cities".

"A logic of war has been put into place," Konca, a member of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP), told a press conference, describing the climate in the country as worse than during the height of the conflict between the state and the rebels in the 1990s.

"Turkey has been plunged into a bloody vortex in which police, soldiers, guerrillas, women, children and the elderly have lost their lives", Konca said, accusing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling party of preparing for war "on a larger scale."

NTV channel reported that the pair -- who have been vocal critics of the AKP -- walked out over a debate on terrorism during a cabinet meeting.

A statement from Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's office said he had accepted the resignations and that neither would be immediately replaced, NTV reported.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus condemned the departing ministers' criticism of the government and president as "unacceptable."

The resignations deal a further setback to the peace process between the state and PKK, which broke down in July after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched an "anti-terrorism" campaign against the militants, shattering a two-year ceasefire.