The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants "fled the terrorist organisation's camps in northern Iraq and surrendered to the security forces in Silopi on January 17," the statement said.

The surrenders are a sign of "disintegration" within the PKK amid an intensified clamp down on the group, including air strikes on its camps in neighbouring northern Iraq, where the rebels have long taken refuge, it said.

The military has confirmed four bombing raids on PKK targets in northern Iraq since December 16, in addition to a ground cross-border operation to stop a group if militants trying to infiltrate Turkey.

At least 150 PKK militants have been killed in the air raids and more than 200 rebel positions destroyed, according to the army.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, has waged a bloody campaign for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey since 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 37,000 lives.