Writing from Diyarbakır under Blockgade

Writing from Diyarbakır under Blockgade

Diyarbakır, the unofficial capital of the Kurdish people, has been one of the main locations of armed conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state. Since August 2015, numerous curfews have been declared in the city and its villages, hundreds of civilians have been killed, the center of the 5000 year old city Suriçi was bombed, and half of the old city was totally destroyed. The curfew still continues in the old city Suriçi. Today is the 333^rddayof the curfew.

Right now, the city is experiencing another shock.  Two days ago, the co-mayors of Diyarbakır, Gültan Kışanak and Fırat Anlı, were detained by the Turkish police with the allegation that they are “supporting the PKK terror organization”. Kışanak was detained in the Diyarbakir Airport, on her way back from Ankara, while Anlı was detained at his home in the center of Diyarbakir. According to Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office press release, Kışanak and Anlı were detained due to statements they had made, covered under their right for freedom of speech.

Following their detention, all internet connection was cut across the Kurdish Region. 6 million people have been cut off from the world  for the past 3 days.

Çürüme

Çürüme nerede başlar? Sonra nasıl yayılır,  insanı nasıl teslim alır? Kalp çürür mü? Kötülüğün sınırları nerede başlar? Ya toplum, o nasıl çürür?

Dün Antep’te gerçekleşen korkunç katliamdan beri bunları düşünmekteyim.

Çoğu çocuk, 54 insan yaşamını yitirmiş, 54 can, 54 evlat!

Ana akım medya katliamı değil “Kürtlerin düğünü” tartışması yürütüyor.

Akşam gazetesi “PKK yanlısı Kürtlerin yoğun yaşadığı mahalle” diye yazıyor.

Aren’t we going to question “why did these 1552 people die”?

Aren’t we going to question  “why did these 1552 people die”?

The Diyarbakır Branch of Human Rights Association (İHD) has just released a new report, publishing the results of the last year war between the Turkish government and the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party).

According to İHD’s report, between 24 July 2015-24 July 2016, 1552 people died during the war. 422 of these people were security forces (soldiers, police, village guards), 622 of them were PKK militants. 320 of these people were civilians. 75 of the civilians were children.

34 civilians lost their life due to PKK bombings. The majority of the remaining civilians (286 people) were killed by state security forces. A number of these 286 people died because of not reaching health services due to curfew.

440 deaths were extrajudicial killings.

My Speech on Yazidi Women

My Speech on Yazidi Women

I met her on a dark night, in Baadre, a Yazidi village, on the border of Mosul, in Iraq.  It was the beginning of 2015. She was staying with other women who were saved from Islamic State, ISIS.

Baadre was one of the biggest Yazidi village in South Kurdistan.  The village is just 5 km. from Mosul. When ISIS occupied Mosul, most of the villagers left. Now, the village is home to the Yazidi women who were kidnapped, raped and later saved from ISIS.