Turkey to lift state of emergency

Emergency rule in the predominantly Kurdish provinces in the south-east of the country was typified by high troop numbers, regular check points and curfews.

The BBC reports, an entire generation has grown up in Diyarbakir and Sirnak with no knowledge of normal civilian government.

Prior to the 15-year state of emergency there was a nine-year period of martial law.

The lifting of emergency rule that once covered 13 Turkish provinces and the militarisation that went with it is a sign of the victory of the Turkish government over the Kurdish and left-wing paramilitaries that once threatened the state.

A ruthless struggle against Kurdish separatists in the 1980s and 90s left over 30,000 dead and millions uprooted from their homes.