Turkey declares curfew in Kurdish province of Diyarbakir

Renewed curfews on Tuesday were imposed on over 40 villages in the southeastern Kurdish province of Diyarbakir, according to Turkish officials.

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Kurdistan24) – Renewed curfews on Tuesday were imposed on over 40 villages in the southeastern Kurdish province of Diyarbakir, according to Turkish officials.

The curfews are part of ongoing security operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which has been waging a resistance against the Turkish government.

The restrictions in 43 villages of the Lice, Hani, Kocakoy, and Dicle districts began at 7:00 a.m. local time.

Turkish officials informed the curfews would “remain in place until further notice,” in a statement released by the government office.

Security forces will begin an offensive in rural areas to “neutralize” PKK fighters, including “senior members and their collaborators operating in the region,” the report added.

The operation is also targeting the PKK’s bunkers, arms depots, and anti-aircraft gun emplacements, as well as confiscating weapons and ammunition an Al Jazeera report explained.

Over 1,200 people, including security forces and civilians, have been killed since the PKK resumed a decades-old armed campaign in July 2015 after a two-year ceasefire between the group and government ended.

The PKK is labeled a “terrorist” group by Turkey, the European Union, and the United States.

Diyarbakir was the target of a curfew earlier this year in March when military and police personnel launched operations targeting the PKK in the area.

Telephone lines and Internet connections were also cut off in the area, prompting a joint statement by Turkey’s Kurdish parties.

“A new addition to the violations of human rights, the massacres, and genocide in Kurdistan where a dirty war is being waged,” the statement read.

 

Editing by G. H. Renaud