JINHA

ŞIRNEX – In the town of Cizre today, Turkish state forces attacked a group of people attempting to retrieve the wounded and the dead in the Cudi neighborhood. At least 10 have been wounded.

The Turkish state’s assault on the town of Cizre continues. Today, the people of Cizre, among them the municipal co-mayors and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Faysal Sarıyıldız, attempted to retrieve wounded citizens and the bodies of the dead from the Cudi neighborhood. The group hoped to retrieve the dead bodies of Serhat Altun, Ahmet Tunç and Mehmet Kaplan, as well as four wounded citizens inside the neighborhood. As the citizens arrived at Nusaybin Avenue, armored vehicles began raking the crowd with gunfire. Many have been wounded, with at least 10 hospitalized immediately and the others waiting for ambulances. Among the hospitalized was Refik Tekin, a cameraman for the TV station İMC who was shot in the foot.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary representative Faysal Sarıyıldız and municipal co-mayor Kadir Konur were among those who took refuge in the basement of a nearby house. State forces targeted the house with heavy gunfire. Tanks have also started firing on the house where the MP and others have taken refuge.

“We have taken shelter in a basement along with the dead bodies,” said Faysal. “The AKP is executing a massacre here; there’s no other word for it.”

Cizre municipal co-mayor Kadir Konur reported that the group took shelter in a house on Coşkun Street in the Dağkapı neighborhood. He dozens of people dropping to the ground as state forces held the crowd under heavy gunfire.

“There is not a clash going on here; they have blockaded us and are raking us with gunfire,” said Kadir.

(at-ab-ma/gc/cm)