Curfew declared in 18 Turkish villages

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – In an official statement, the Municipality of Farqin in southeastern Turkey declared a curfew in 18 villages and quarters of the district on Friday morning.

The announcement confirmed that a curfew will begin at 11 a.m. local time and claimed that it was a part of security measures aimed at “protecting civilians from terrorist organization separatists.”

The villages and quarters mentioned by the Municipality will include: Bogazozu, Demirkuyu, Ozluce, Kayadere, Donenkaya, Tarakli, Esenyol, Duruseven, Gurpinar, Arikoy, Taspinar, Cigdemli, Toklar, Kazandaxi, Kalemli, Artas, Basdegirmen and Pinar.

The statement added that the curfew will last until further notice.

According to official statements, these curfews are imposed by the Turkish government to provide a ground for its security forces to launch major military operations against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in the area.

Turkish officials including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuse PKK fighters of terrorism with separation intentions and stress that Turkish security forces will continue fighting against the group until it is uprooted.

The PKK, on the other hand, denies the accusations and claims that it continues to seek peace negotiations with Ankara.

The Civil Protection Units (YPS) is another primarily Kurdish rebel group, formed on Dec. 20, 2015, training for conventional urban warfare against the Turkish government.

Since Sep. 8, 2015, Turkey has been the scene of a domestic war that has targeted civilians in Kurdish-majority regions of the southeast.

Reporting by Gulala Khaled
Edited by Karzan Sulaivany
(Hasan Kako contributed to this report from Diyarbakir)