JINHA

NEWS CENTER – As Turkish security forces continue to blockade and bombard the Kurdish town of Cizre, a massive march of activists, Parliamentary representatives and local Kurds has set out on foot for the town. Their hope: to stop a massacre.

For a week now, Turkish security forces have held the Kurdish town of Cizre under a curfew and blockade. The death toll has now risen to 20 in one week, as security forces open fire on anyone who sets foot outside. Police and soldiers have deployed tanks, helicopters and machine guns in residential neighborhoods.

In the face of the assault, a large delegation—among them over 40 Parliamentary representatives and two ministers from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (DHP), including party co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş—set out to march to Cizre. Yesterday, soldiers barricaded the roads on the route to Cizre. Marchers refused to give up, deciding to walk on foot to the besieged town. Police attacked the group with tear gas multiple times.

“The road is ours; we will march,” declared Selahattin Demirtaş. He called for tens of thousands to march for Cizre and to stop the state-led massacre gaining speed in the town. Eventually the group reached the town of İdil, where they spent the night. Many İdil residents joined in.

This morning at 4:00 a.m., the march resumed. Police refused to permit the marchers. Police kicked and punched two women HDP Parliamentary representatives and once again attacked the marchers with tear gas. Marchers have opted for a shortcut via the area’s mountain paths. They are now making their way towards Cizre, despite the frequent police assaults and the drones flying overhead.

“We will enter Cizre, no matter what the conditions,” said Sebahat Tuncel, the co-speaker of the activist group Peoples’ Democratic Congress.

(ht-pk/fk/cm)