JINHA

ŞIRNEX – The governor of Şırnak province in Turkey has lifted the curfew in the besieged town of Cizre as of this morning, after a massive popular resistance against the siege.

Starting September 4, Turkish security forces maintained a 24-hour curfew in the Kurdish town of Cizre. Security forces used heavy ammunition in residential neighborhoods and snipers shot anyone who went outside in many areas. Yesterday evening, after days of popular struggle both inside and outside the town, the provincial governor announced that the curfew in Cizre would end this morning. However, security forces continued their assault last night, killing a 75-year-old man.

Yesterday, police and soldiers repeatedly attempted to stop delegations of political parties and lawyers who have been attempting to reach the town for days. A group of around 300 lawyers held a sit-in in the road to demand that police lift the barricade. Another delegation of dozens of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) representatives were also cut off on the road to Cizre and forced back to the nearby town of İdil.

Meanwhile, a march of thousands of civilians from the nearby towns of Şırnak and Silopi succeeded in reaching Cizre after days of near-constant police repression. As security forces continued an intensive bombing of the neighborhoods of Nur and Cudi yesterday, the marchers, bearing food and white flags, attempted to make their way through police tear gas and a hail of live ammunition. The group decided to hold a peace vigil in Cizre’s Konak neighborhood to protest the repression.

As of 7:00 this morning, the curfew has been lifted, but deaths continued overnight. Mehmet Erdoğan, 75 years old and a father of five, left his home to attempt to find bread last night. Police shot him in the head, and residents were unable to retrieve his body. A delegation of Kurdish activists was able to enter the town this morning with the lifting of the curfew and has headed to the street where Mehmet was killed.

(pk-ht/fk/mg/sg/gc/cm)