Alwaght- Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) says Turkish government troops massacred civilians in Cizre during a recent operation against militants.
The southeastern town of Cizre has been under a punishing curfew for six weeks as the Turkish army pursues a relentless campaign against militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The reports say Turkish security forces raided a building in Cizre, killing up to 60 wounded people who had been sheltering there for more than a week.
"They committed a massacre in Cizre, and they don't want to announce it," Selahattin Demirtas told party lawmakers. Speaking during his party's parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, Demirtaş said that the government committed a massacre but cannot admit it to the public because it fears a public backlash.
Demirtaş said that between 70 and 90 people, dozens of whom are injured, have been forced to remain in the basements of a number buildings in Cizre's Cudi neighborhood for 20 days, most of whom are locals Cizre and university students who came to Cizre to show solidarity with the locals. He added that the security forces believe that there are PKK terrorists among them, which is why they have not been allowed to leave the basements and security forces have fired shells at the buildings regardless of the civilians.
“Those people will either die of a lack of food and water or artillery fire. The identities of those people are now known. We have already given a list of their names to the authorities. You can allow us to take the people out the basements using ambulances. The security forces can easily check whether these people have been involved in crimes or not. This is how things should work in a democratic country. However, the government has given the security forces complete authority and permission to eliminate all of the people in the basements. The government also told the security forces not to be afraid of the consequences of their ‘massacres' because the government will cover up their deeds,” Demirtaş said.
The HDP leader further said that the security forces killed all of the people in the basements during operations on Sunday. He also alleged that the army has since been trying to distribute the dead bodies across the district and has placed bodies in ruined houses to prevent people from learning about their mass killings.
Turkish forces launched attacks against the camps of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in the country’s southeast early on October, marking the military’s first significant offensive against PKK, since peace talks began two years ago
The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region in southeastern Turkey since 1980s. The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead.
