Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan inspected on Monday the restive southeastern province of Hakkari, calling on people there to keep away from terrorism, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

"Whatever ethnic, religious or regional group we are part of, we must live together hand-in-hand and shoulder-to-shoulder," Erdogan addressed residents of Hakkari's Semdinli town after he visited Cumhuriyet Street and Ozipek shopping arcade, where explosions there on Nov. 1 and 9 raised security concerns.

He stressed that nobody should be treated according to his ethnical identity, adding that the Turkish government was exerting efforts to eliminate unbalanced situation in this region.

Later, Erdogan left Semdinli for Yuksekova town of the same province.

At Yuksekova, Erdogan described terrorist groups as bloodthirsty and inhumane, saying "terrorist groups have no ties to human rights. They get pleasure out of bloodshed and killing."

He asked his people to keep alert on terrorist groups and keep away from them, adding "terror can never be the basis for peace. Those involved in terror have always lost."

Accompanied by Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu and Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, Erdogan also visited Hakkari province on Monday, which was attacked by bombs this month.

The bomb attack at Semdinli has triggered a series of protests in Turkey, some of which have led to bloody clashes between demonstrators and security forces.

On Nov. 15, a clash between protestors and the security forces at Yuksekova town neighboring Semdinli killed three civilians and wounded 16 others, including seven police officers.

Violence in Turkey has resurged since the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) cancelled its unilateral six-year truce in 2004.

Over 30,000 people have been killed since the group took up arms in 1984 for a Kurdish homeland in the mainly Kurdish southeastern Turkey.

Source: Xinhua