* PKK halted ceasefire at end-Feb
* Spring thaw usually brings rise in clashes
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, March 15 (Reuters) - Turkish troops killed three Kurdish guerrillas in a clash in southeast Turkey, the military said on Tuesday, the first clash since the militants ended a ceasefire two weeks ago.
The firefight will stir fears of a revival in separatist violence ahead of a June parliamentary election. Clashes generally increase in the spring, which brings warmer weather to the mountains on the Iraqi border where the rebels are active.
The clash broke out when security forces encountered a group of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters on Monday in Sirnak province, near the border with Iraq and Syria, the armed forces said in a statement.
The PKK declared a unilateral truce in August and later extended it until the election, now set for June 12, to give the government space to resolve the conflict, it said.
It called off the ceasefire on Feb. 28, saying it would not attack Turkish targets but would take a more "effective" defensive posture. It blamed government policies for the move.
Turkey has in recent years bolstered the cultural and linguistic rights of its Kurdish minority, which makes up some 20 percent of the population. The government has also launched a "democratic opening" aimed mainly at enhancing those rights.
Kurdish politicians have criticised the pace and extent of the reform initiative.
More than 40,000 people, mainly Kurds, have died in the PKK's conflict with the Turkish state since the rebels launched their armed insurgency in 1984.
Most of its several thousand militants are based in the mountains of northern Iraq and the Turkish military has in recent years launched offensives against rebel camps there. (Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Diana Abdallah)
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