The clash erupted in a rural area in the province of Van when the two "terrorists" refused calls to surrender and opened fire on the security forces, the local governor's office said in a statement carried by Anatolia news agency.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organisation by Ankara, the United States and the European Union, has stepped up its military activity this year.

The group has been fighting for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish areas in the east and southeast since 1984 in a bloody conflict that has claimed more than 37,000 lives.