JINHA

ŞIRNEX – For 10 days, wounded residents have been trapped in a basement in the Cizre district of Şırnak. Ten women went to evacuate the wounded in the Cizre basement yesterday. The women were taken into custody by state forces.

“We cried out, but no one answered us,” said Ayşe Güven, one of the women.

Dozens of wounded Cizre residents have been trapped in a basement by a state bombardment for 10 days now. After Turkish state forces blocked ambulances to the area and fired on the wounded when they tried to leave the basement, there has been no word from the wounded for two days now.

Yesterday, 10 Cizre women headed through the neighborhood under white flags in an attempt to reach the wounded. They got as far as the street outside the building when they were arrested by Turkish state forces for violating the 24-hour “curfew” declared in the town. The women were released from state custody late last night.

Esmer Tunç, one of the women, said that the street on which the besieged building is located has been completely demolished. She could hardly recognize it.

“[State forces] surrounded us there and took us to the police station,” said Esmer. “[The police] insulted us, asked us to take off our clothes. They took our pictures and our fingerprints. They asked us who sent us. We told them we went because our hearts were breaking.”

Woman Ayşe Güven said the group entered the neighborhood via Nusaybin Avenue. Police told them not to enter, due to the presence of explosives, but the women continued.

“We held each other’s hands and approached the building,” said Ayşe. The second and third stories had completely collapsed, and the neighboring buildings had all been completely demolished. Ayşe said it would be impossible for anyone to leave the building, which was surrounded by tanks. “When we saw the state of the building, we got scared. The street was terrifying. There was nothing you could call a street left. One side of it was on fire. A lot of nearby houses were on fire.

“We were about to enter the building. They had used diggers to surround the building with dirt,” said Ayşe. “We yelled and cried out, thinking maybe our children would hear us. But there was no sound.”

As the women were looking for a way into the building, they found themselves surrounded by police.

“They held guns to our heads and insulted us,” said Ayşe. “Then they took us to the Counterterrorism [Department of the Cizre police]. The insults continued. They said, ‘this curfew will go on as long as there’s even one of you left.’”

After being released from custody, the women were dropped off at Cizre’s hospital.

(ekip/fk/cm)