Alwaght- Turkish authorities' crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Diyarbakir made Thousands of people flee the mainly Kurdish district, located in southeastern Turkey.
Turkey has extended the curfew to include five more neighborhoods after 23 people were killed on Wednesday in street battles, including three Turkish soldiers and 20 Kurdish fighters.
The Sur District Governor’s Office said the curfew was extended to Sur’s Abdaldede, Alipaşa, Lalebey, Süleyman Nazif and Ziya Gökalp neighborhoods as well as Melihahmet Street on Jan. 27 so security forces could remove barricades and explosive devices and fill in ditches dug by militants. Residents living in these neighborhoods reportedly began to flee their homes. It also prevents journalists and observers from witnessing the fighting.
Heavy gunfire continued on Wednesday in the ancient Sur district of Diyarbakir amid clashes between authorities and Kurdish fighters said to be members of the PKK, which has been outlawed by Ankara, Turkish Dogan news agency reported.
“We’re in trouble, we have nowhere to go. What’s happening happens to us. They told us to leave our homes after trenches were dug. That’s enough. We want this conflict to come to an end,” a Sur resident told Doğan News Agency.
Doğan News Agency said snipers opened fire on security forces during intense clashes in Sur, wounding six security personnel, whom were taken to the Diyarbakır Military Hospital for treatment. However, three soldiers and a police officer later succumbed to their injuries.
Turkey’s army also confirmed that it had killed 11 alleged PKK in the town of Cizre near the Syrian border, and nine others in Sur on Tuesday. The Turkish army claims it has killed 134 Kurdish fighters in the ancient Sur district since December. The district has also witnessed severe damage since then.
The 24-hour curfew zone has been extended to five more districts in Diyarbakir, according to the district governor’s office. The curfew bans residents from leaving their homes and forbids observers and reporters from entering the areas when clashes are taking place.
After alleged members of PKK reportedly dug trenches and set up explosive devices, the curfew was put in place “restore public order,” the district governor’s office said.
Local media reports estimate that more than 2,000 people left Sur following the fighting on Wednesday. People were seen fleeing with suitcases, bags, and bedding.
"Turkey’s state early in the morning started to warn people that they have to leave their houses. And right now thousands of people are trying to leave Sur district, the ancient part of the city,” Harun Ercan, a Diyarbakir resident, told RT.
"This armed conflict continues to create new tragedies and these people don’t know what to do. While these operations continue, gross human rights violations are committed by Turkey’s security forces,” Ercan added.
Turkish authorities have introduced curfews in several Kurdish-majority towns since the peace process with the PKK collapsed in the summer of 2015.
Critical conditions of the Kurdish citizens in Turkey are in a way that one may expect the beginning of a new Eregenkon in Turkey. Eregenkon was the policy of “regional ethnic cleansing” conducted by Turkish Intelligence Services and army in Kurdish areas aiming to eliminate the opposition and the nationalist Kurds. In line with this plan, a lot of murders and crimes occurred in the Kurdish areas which were unveiled in March 2008 in Turkish media, and caused a great shame for Turkish officials. Now, under the pretext of combating the PKK, Ankara can take illegal measures to murder the critics and liberalists who are not even affiliated to PKK.
