Iraqi Kurdish leader calls for peaceful means to end Turkey-PKK conflict

President of Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan Masoud Barzani on Saturday called for pursuing peaceful means to solve the pending issues between Turkey and the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).

Speaking on telephone with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Barzani expressed his concern over the escalation between Turkey and the PKK, according to a regional government statement.

Davutoglu and Barzani "discussed the latest developments and the reasons behind the escalation between Turkey and the PKK," it said, adding that Barzani confirmed that "the dialogue is the only mean to solve the problems and pledged to exert every effort to ease the situation."

"Years of negotiations are better than one hour of war," Barzani said.

On Friday night, Turkish warplanes bombed five targets of the camps of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in the regions of Zap, Basyan, Bare, Avasin and Metina on Qandil Mountain in northern Iraq in northern Iraq.

The attacks followed air strikes into northern Syria, where Turkish fighter jets targeted Islamic State (IS) bases.

According to Kurdish medical sources in northern Iraq, two people were injured by the Turkish bombardment.

"So far two civilians have been injured in the bombing, one of them a 13-year-old boy who has lost a leg and the other a 45-year-old man," said Najib Saeed, head of Amedi hospital in Dohuk Province. Endit