Women politicians investigate fire in Kurdistan
10:18
JINHA
AMED - In Lice, Turkey, group of women politicians and activists have conducted an independent investigation into a forest fire suspected of being started intentionally by the state.
In the Kurdish district of Lice, located in Diyarbakır province, a forest fire destroyed villages and rural areas while the responsible authorities did little to intervene. It was only through the efforts of local volunteers that the fire was put out.The images of fire in Lice were especially painful for residents given that during the 1990s, Turkish soldiers intentionally burned and destroyed Lice and its villages.
The Women's Freedom Assembly, a group of women politicians and activists, headed to the Lice area to conduct an independent investigation into the incidents yesterday.The delegation took earth samples and analyzed the burn damage in the Fis valley. They also met with villagers in the surrounding villages, who reported that they had seen helicopters firing incendiary rounds into the forest area the day the fire started. They also saw helicopters dropping a powder-like substance into the forests.
"The villagers expressed that what happened to them made them relive the 1990s," said Meral Danış Beştaş, a Parliamentary representative for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and a member of the delegation. "A villager who had experienced the same thing 22 years ago told of how they had returned to their village and then once again were confronted with fire. We saw that the villagers were upset and angry."
The Lice district voted 98% for the HDP in Turkey's June 7 election. Villagers reported that they were being punished for their political preference by the state.
The delegation also met with the Lice district governor. According to Meral, the governor pretended to have no knowledge of the fire.
"According to the governor, there was no fire to speak of," said Meral. "The district governor says that only 1% of the forest area burned. But the things we have observed prove this wrong."
The delegation also visited the families of a fallen YPG fighter and the co-mayor of Lice, who was detained in recent police operations.
(bc-ny/fk/cm)