Medya Cebe-Nişmiye Güler / JINHA

WAN -Recently, the sight of special police teams armed with rifles at every corner in the city of Van, Turkey has become commonplace. Women in the city describe life under police siege.

As the Turkish army continues airstrikes against Kurds, cities in the region have taken on the feel of a state of emergency. The largely Kurdish city of Van is no exception. Police armed with rifles can be seen on duty at nearly every corner, with patrols roaming the streets all day. Women in the city describe the presence as "psychological violence."

Van resident Gülşen Borak said that the heavy police presence in the streets of the city began in the wake of Turkey's June 7 election, when the ruling AKP was dealt a heavy blow at the polls.

"State terror is casting a shadow over our hope for peace; we're nearly losing hope," said Gülşen. "Because the police occupy our streets, we can't walk on the avenues. This particularly bothers women and children. Every family in this area has doubtless experienced harm from the police and the state, so for them to always be among us has a psychological affect. It awakensfeelings of hate." Gülşen, calling the police presence "a demonstration of war," said that the people of the city want to see peace.

"I'm really bothered by this; there's always some activity and we're always looking around, wondering what happened," said Van resident Barış Çifçi. She noted that the police have been stationed not just on main streets, but throughout the back streets of the city. She said that recent events were provoking the people into "all-out resistance.

"What they need to know is, we're not scared," said Barış. "When we pass by them, it shouldn't be us being scared; it should be them."

(zd/cm)