TURKEY-KURDS/CIZRE CURFEW LIFTED Authorities lift controversial curfew in southeast Turkish town of Cizre

Record ID: 141153

  • Title: TURKEY-KURDS/CIZRE CURFEW LIFTED Authorities lift controversial curfew in southeast Turkish town of Cizre
  • Date: 12th September 2015
  • Summary: CIZRE, TURKEY (SEPTEMBER 12, 2015) (REUTERS) ARMOURED SECURITY VEHICLE DRIVING PAST RESIDENTS OF CIZRE TRYING TO WALK IN A FLOODED STREET PEOPLE WALKING PAST DAMAGED VAN BULLET TRACES ON THE DAMAGED VAN PEOPLE WALKING ALONG THE STREET, WALKING PAST DAMAGED HOUSE WOMAN WITH TEARFUL EYES LOOKING AT THE DESTROYED GATE OF HER HOUSE BULLET TRACES ON THE WALLS OF AN APARTMENT VARIOUS OF A DUMMY STANDING BEHIND A BARRIER THAT MILITANTS ERECTED TO PREVENT POLICE FORCES FROM ENTERING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD WATER LEAKING FROM A DAMAGED WALL INTERIORS OF DAMAGED BUILDING MAN LEAVING HOUSE THROUGH A HOLE IN THE WALL WOMAN WALKING THROUGH HOLE IN THE WALL BULLETS ON THE GROUND VARIOUS OF CHILDREN PLAYING AROUND RUBBLE WOMEN LOOKING AT DAMAGED WALL ARMOURED POLICE VEHICLES WAITING AT ENTRANCE TO NEIGHBOURHOOD
  • Embargoed: 27th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAD07NEY7I2T0UY2OY083PL86LY
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Residents emerged from their homes to walk through the rubble-strewn streets of Cizre on Saturday (September 12), after a nine-day curfew imposed by Turkish authorities to combat PKK fighters was lifted.
    Film footage showed homes and properties scarred with bullet marks and holes in the walls, as residents assessed the damage.
    The decision to lift the Cizre curfew came despite tensions persisting in the town of 100,000, with five members of the security forces wounded by a bomb blast on Friday (September 11).
    Authorities have been facing mounting pressure to open access to the town and allow investigations into claims of disproportionate force used by security services.
    Pro-Kurdish politicians say 21 civilians have been killed and a humanitarian crisis has unfolded, with the dead going unburied and food and water running short. They said special forces, acting on the local governor's orders, had been shooting anyone venturing out on the street.
    The interior minister said on Thursday (September 10) that only one civilian had died in Cizre and that military operations there had killed dozens of militants. A group of pro-Kurdish HDP lawmakers was denied access to the town on Thursday.
    Nils Muiznieks, human rights commissioner at the Council of Europe, demanded immediate access for observers to assess the situation, whilst Amnesty International said in a statement it was was extremely concerned by the impacts of the curfew.
    State authorities had also imposed an overnight curfew in the town of Yuksekova near the Iranian border due to what they said was increased militant activity.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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