Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during a ceremony in Yozgat, Turkey March 25, 2016, in this handout photo provided by the Presidential Palace. REUTERS/Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Palace/Handout via Reuters

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish security forces have killed 5,359 Kurdish militants since the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) abandoned a two-year ceasefire in July, the state-run Anadolu news agency cited President Tayyip Erdogan as saying on Monday.

Erdogan said 355 soldiers, police officers and village guards have been killed in the violence, most of it in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast. Anadolu cited the text of a speech by Erdogan to the Turkish War Academy.