JINHA

ŞIRNEX – Thousands of residents of towns neighboring the besieged Kurdish town of Cizre, Turkey marched through harsh mountainous terrain to reach Cizre. The civilians hope to stop the killing in the besieged town.

Since Wednesday morning, thousands of Kurds have been attempting to reach the beseieged city of Cizre, where Turkish security forces have maintained a deadly curfew for more than a week. Marchers from the towns of Şırnak and Silopi set out bearing white flags, hoping to reach Cizre and intervene to stop the bloody attacks.

Yesterday afternoon, the crowd of thousands reached Cizre’s Konak neighborhood to a joyous welcome. The march’s destination: the besieged neighborhoods of Nur and Cudi, where for days residents have been trapped by snipers firing on anyone who leaves their home. Police first attempted to disperse the march with tear gas and water cannons, then resorted tol ive ammunition. The civilians responded by chanting “long live the Cizre resistance.”

Another group of marches who set out from İdil were forced onto mountain paths by state forces who fired on them on the main roads. The crowd responded by throwing stones, but as the state forces deployed rocket launchers and rubber bullets, marchers were forced into the mountain forest. The crowd decided to spend the night in the village of Yaqûbê, where villagers had put out a fire started by state rocket launchers. Today, the group from İdil hopes to reach the city of Cizre.

Meanwhile, a delegation of 60 Parliamentary representatives and cabinet ministers from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), also marching on foot towards Cizre, was stopped five kilometers away from the town by a military barricade yesterday. Among them is the party’s co-chair, Selahattin Demirtaş. Security forces have announced that they will not allow any travel to Cizre after the town of Midyat.

Today, the party’s other co-chair, Figen Yüksekdag, will set out for Cizre with a delegation of hundreds of lawyers. They are hoping to break the siege by opening the road to Cizre.

(ekip/fk/cm)