JINHA

ŞIRNEX – Dozens of dead bodies have been removed from basements in the town of Cizre that came under attack by Turkish state forces. There is still no word from many of the wounded, facing summary execution by Turkish forces. 66 people have been killed so far in attacks on the basements where the wounded took refuge in Cizre.

Turkish state forces continue to launch attacks on basements where the wounded have taken refuge in the besieged town of Cizre. 66 have been killed so far.

A basement located on Bostancı Street in the Cudi neighborhood was the first to come under attack. 31 people had taken refuge in the Bostancı Street house when it was targeted by tank fire on January 23. Since then, Turkish state forces have not allowed the wounded to receive ambulance access. Seven of those in the Bostancı Street basement passed away due to lack of medical care. As for the 15 surviving wounded and nine people with them, there has been no word from them for 11 days.

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MPs engaged in negotiations with the Ministry of the Interior for days regarding the evacuation of the wounded, but negotiations were fruitless. State forces blocked all attempts by HDP delegations and volunteer healthcare workers to reach the basement. Municipal ambulances repeatedly approached the site, but were turned away by state forces who claimed there were “clashes” in the area.

The upper floors of the Bostancı Street building have completely collapsed. When last contacted 11 days ago, those inside lacked water, food and medical dressing. The place that came to be known by the public as the “basement of savagery” became a coffin for the 15 wounded and nine others.

62 wounded had taken refuge in the second basement, located on Narin Street in the Cudi neighborhood. Tanks began attacking the basement, leading to a fire on the upper floors of the building. As the fire spread into one room of the basement, nine people burned to death. On the same day, a 16-year-old boy named Abdullah Gün emerged from the basement. He was shot and killed by state forces.

On February 7, state forces conducted an operation on the Narin Street basement. The state news channel TRT News reported on the operation with the headline “60 terrorists disabled [killed].” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu then denied the initial report, referring to a statement by the state-appointed governor of the province that “ten people were killed.”

Yesterday evening, municipal ambulances entered the Cudi neighborhood. The ambulances transported 27 incinerated and dismembered bodies to the hospital. Today, 12 more dead bodies were transported out of the neighborhood.

The whereabouts of the remaining 23 in the Narin Street basement are still unknown. Faysal Sarıyıldız, one of the HDP MPs for the province, stated that on the last day those outside were able to contact the wounded, before the attack, there were told that there were 10 dead bodies and 52 wounded in the basement. He expressed concerns that all those in the basement had been killed, but that their bodies had not been produced in order to hide the extent of the massacres.

Finally, today, state forces attacked a third basement in the Sur neighborhood where 45 of the wounded had taken refuge. Tanks assaulted the building, leading to the collapse of the upper stories. Police scattered gasoline in areas of the building and lit it on fire. 20 of the wounded died in the ensuing blaze.

The 25 survivors in the basement are currently facing execution at the hands of state forces. Among the wounded in the Sur neighborhood basement is Derya Koç, former HDP co-chair for the Milas district in western Turkey.

In the most recent contact established with Derya, she reported that the walls of the basement had been demolished, and that armored vehicles playing the Ottoman Empire’s military march had fired tear gas into the basement. Derya said that those in the basement were unable to breathe due to the tear gas.

(ekip/gc/cm)