Beritan Canözer / JINHA

AMED - Police is still in the Sur district of Diyarbakır despite the Department of the Interior announced that "Operation was ended" in the town at the beginning of the month of March. The residents of district commented this situation and they said that the police are looking for treasure. One woman named Raife said, “The police took my uncle to the street my uncle’s store is. Police asked him, “Where is the treasure?” My uncle told them that he doesn’t understand anything and there isn’t treasure there. Thereupon, the police told my uncle by pushing him, “Show us the treasure.”

24-hour curfew had been declared in the Sur district of Diyarbakır on December 2, 2015. As many civilians were killed, many historic buildings were damaged during the curfew. Even though, the state announced that “Operation is ended” on March 10 in the district, the bans are still going on in the district. There isn’t any clash in Sur and around the district; however, the police are still in the district. Around the town is still surrounded by barricades, and the streets are covered with white curtains. We asked the residents in town that why the police are in the town despite the operations are were ended. While some of them said that the state is trying to make them forget Sur, other said that the police are looking for treasure thought to be buried here. One woman named Raife told us about an incident she lived trough about the treasure recently. She said that the police took her uncle to Sur and they asked him to show them the treasure.

Raife told the event in the following words: “They took my uncle from his store to Sur. The police asked my uncle “Is this our home?” My uncle said, “Yes”. They took him the street of his home. They told him, “Show us where the treasure is.” My uncle told them he doesn’t understand what they talked about. The police told my uncle by pushing him, “Show us the treasure.” My uncle insisted on he didn’t know anything. Thereupon, the police told him, “We got Armenian killed through you in the past and now we’ll take their buried treasure. Then, they took my uncle from there. According to my uncle, everywhere is demolished. The police are still there because they are looking for the treasure. Thence, they are still in the town.”

A citizen named Asiye Yurda reacted to not lifting the ban by saying, “Sur is homeland. I was born, grew up, got married and I become a mother there. We are exiled from our own home and neighborhood. They demolished everywhere in Sur. Who knows what they are doing in the town now. Everyone knows the history of Sur. Is it normal that they demolish there? No, it isn’t and we’ll never forget anything.”

(dk/gd)