Barzani warned on Monday of the repercussions of the ongoing conflict between Turkey and PKK fighters on the borders of Kurdistan.

"In these crises facing the region, it is necessary for all Kurds to share responsibility to end the tensions." Barzani said in a statement.

He continued, “we are proud if inhibiting the Kurd-Kurd fighting for decades, but this should not be used to use force and illegal arms by PKK."

"Instead of supporting the heroic combat of Peshmerga against ISIS, PKK fighters have seized the liberated areas and styled themselves as the regional government, preventing citizens from rebuilding their villages." He pointed-out.

Barzani said, "PKK must return the seized areas to the legal authority of the region, and they must withdraw from all the areas they occupied forcibly."

PKK fighters are located in the mountainous areas on the borders of Turkey where they launch repeatedly attacks inside Turkish territory.

Turkey on June 17 launched Operation Claw-Tiger, a cross-border ground assault targeting the PKK in various regions of northern Iraq in response to an increase in attacks against Turkish military forces. Turkey regularly targets the PKK in operations in northern Iraq, home to the group’s headquarters, and on home soil.

The PKK has disregarded repeated calls by KRG authorities to leave these areas, Rudaw said, citing Barzani as calling for the group to take "normalizing the situation."

The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and European Union, has been fighting an insurgency against the Turkish state for four decades.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, including 7,918 members of Turkey’s security forces, 5,557 civilians and 22,101 PKK members between 1981 and 2012, according to a report by Turkish parliament.

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