In Cizre district of Şırnak, popular resistance continues for the 21st day against the state of siege targeting the Kurdish people’s will for self-rule.
The onslaught which aims a total displacement of the regional population and obstruction of people’s will is introduced by Turkish media as a “cleansing operation”. 10 thousand soldiers and thousands of special operation police are participating in the all-out aggression which is going on for three weeks now but has made no advance as people aren’t allowing state forces enter their neighborhoods where they declared self-rule.
During the last three weeks of the onslaught, attacks by Turkish forces claimed lives of 29 civilians who include an unborn 7-month-old baby and 3-month-old infant Miray.
While troops have been deployed on hills overlooking Cudi, Nur, Sur and Yafes neighborhoods protected by people who declared self-rule; tanks, armored vehicles and armored diggers of Turkish forces have been positioned on Hill Aşk which overlooks Nur neighborhood, and on Hill Cahferi Sadık which overlooks both Cudi and Sur neighborhoods. Houses and schools on Hill Cahferi Sadık have been evacuated and occupied by soldiers.
Upon a continued failure to break the popular resistance in neighborhoods, state forces have started a great wave of attacks to devastate the town and force people to leave.
Neighborhoods are being targeted by uninterrupted artillery attacks for days, which has left hundreds of houses unusable, and thus thousands of people homeless.
The aggression also targets the basic needs of the people; water and electricity. Armored vehicles and gunfire are primarily targeting the water tanks and electricity pylons in neighborhoods. Announcements made from armored vehicles which threaten the people to “leave the town” serve as an evidence of the Turkish state’s displacement policy against Kurdish people.
Despite all the intensified heavy attacks, people are not leaving the neighborhoods where they mount resistance behind trenches and barricades, and at the same time organise the daily life with commitment to freedom and spirit of solidarity. “Biji berxwedana Cizire” [Long Live Cizire Resistance] has always echoed throughout the areas of self-rule since the beginning of the resistance.
While the needs of residents are met through collective efforts and works in several houses in every street, children and elderly are being taken safe areas when neighborhoods are targeted by intense and random fire. 4-5 families organise the distribution of the food and other stuff, and communes have been formed to cook for those resisting behind trenches and barricades who are led by youths and women. Recently established Civil Defense Units (YPS) are defending the neighborhoods against the increasingly ongoing attacks of Turkish military and police forces.
Below is a list of the civilians who have been killed by state forces in Cizre, but were labelled ‘terrorist’ by government officials and warmongering Turkish media.
CUDİ NEIGHBORHOOD
1- Hediye Şen (30)
2- Doğan Aslan (22)
3- Sellahadin Bozkurt (70)
4- Zeynep Yılmaz (40)
5- Emine Duman (77)
6- Lütfü Aksu (25)
7- Mehmet Saçan (38)
8- Ferdi Kalkan (20)
9- Hüseyin Ertene (17)
10- Hüseyin Selçuk (5)
11- Zeynep Demir (65-70)
12- Cabbar Taşkın (40)
13- Two 7-month-old babies who were given premature birth under the strain of intensified bombardments.
NUR NEIGHBORHOOD
14- Doğan İşçi (32)
15- Mehmet Tekin (25)
16 Azime Aşan (50)
17- Kumru Işık (85)
18- Abdullaziz Yural (28)
19- Güler Yanalak’s 7-month-old unborn baby shot dead by a police bullet
SUR NEIGHBORHOOD
20- İbrahim Akhan (15)
21- Yılmaz Erz (42)
22- Dikran Sayaca (25)
23- Ramazan İnce (75)
24- Miray İnce (3-month-old infant)
YAFES NEIGHBORHOOD
25- Abdullmecit Yanık (24)
26- Haci Özdal (25)
27- Hediye Erden (60)
DİCLE NEIGHBORHOOD
28- Besna Zırığ (50) who suffered a heart attack
KALE NEIGHBORHOOD
29 – Cahide Çakıl (35)
