Unknown chemicals used in Cizre sewers
ŞIRNEX – As Turkish state forces maintain a siege on the town of Cizre, state forces have introduced an unknown chemical agent into the sewers. Meanwhile, there has been no contact with a building where nine residents burned to death since yesterday evening.
For 55 days, Turkish state forces have maintained a total siege on the town of Cizre. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed in the town. In the past, Turkish state forces shut down sewage and water lines in the town with the excuse that “the PKK is using them.” Now, state forces have introduced an unknown chemical agent into sewage lines. The chemical agent, which has a smell similar to tear gas, has entered residents’ homes through water drains in kitchens and baths. Meanwhile, state forces have shut down the last remaining markets, bakeries and pharmacies in the town “until further notice.”
For seven days, there has been no contact with the “basement of atrocity” in the town’s Cudi neighborhood, where 15 wounded (civilians among them) and seven dead bodies have been trapped by a state siege. For 15 days, all efforts to get an ambulance to the besieged basement have been fruitless.
Most recently, on February 4, municipal ambulances got as far as the street on which the basement is located. However, state forces began artillery fire on the neighborhood as soon as the ambulance arrived, then gave healthcare workers the excuse that “there are clashes.”
Two days ago, it emerged that 37 wounded were trapped in yet another basement elsewhere in the Cudi neighborhood. As state forces fired artillery at the building, a fire broke out. Firefighters were blocked by state forces who once again used the excuse of “clashes.” As the fire spread into the basement, nine died and many were severely burned, children among them. A 16-year-old boy who emerged from the building yesterday to survey the area was shot dead by state forces, raising the death toll to 10 in two days.
The governor of Şırnak province, in which Cizre is located, made a statement regarding the deaths of the nine wounded in the basement. The statement claimed that, “nine terrorists were disabled in a clash that broke out when terrorist organization members attacked.” The statement claimed that the “fleeing terrorists” lit the building on fire and prevented ambulances from entering the area.
There has been no contact with the building where the fire took place since yesterday evening.
(ekip/fk/cm)
http://jinhahaber.link/en/ALL-NEWS/content/view/44366
Intense Clashes Erupt Between Turkish Army, Kurdish Fighters in Diyarbakir
Intense clashes involving machine guns and artillery is ongoing in the center of the Turkish city of Diyarbakir, which has witnessed clashes between the army and Kurdish fighters, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported Saturday.
DIYARBAKIR (Sputnik) – The central Sur district of Diyarbakir, which houses historic monuments dating back to 400 BC, has been rocked by fighting between Kurdish fighters and the Turkish armed forces in recent months.The district was cordoned off by the military firing alongside Kurdish militants, the correspondent reported. Several ambulance crews have arrived at the scene to pick up the wounded.
Earlier, the city mayor told RIA Novosti that out of the 70,000 Sur residents, 50,000 had left their homes.
In December, the Turkish authorities declared a curfew in a number of southeastern regions where armed clashes between Ankara forces and PKK fighters continue.Tensions in Turkey escalated in July 2015, after 33 Kurdish activists were killed in a suicide blast in the city of Suruc and two Turkish policemen were later murdered by the PKK, which led to Ankara’s military campaign against the group.
The Kurds, Turkey’s largest ethnic minority, are striving to create their own independent state. The PKK was founded in late 1970s to promote the self-determination for the Kurdish community.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in his New Year’s statement that Turkish security forces killed 3,100 PKK militants in 2015.
Turkish soldiers kill Rojava girl at border
EFRÎN – Turkish soldiers have killed a small girl at the border between Rojava’s Efrîn Canton and Turkey’s Kilis district.
Last night, peacekeeping forces in Rojava’s Efrîn Canton found the body of a nine-year-old girl at the border with Turkey, near the village of Bikê. It emerged that the girl was shot by Turkish soldiers position in Kilis as she was trying to cross the border. Because local sources reported that the girl was not crossing the border alone but with an adult woman, it is suspected that the woman has been shot and killed as well.
http://jinhahaber.link/en/ALL-NEWS/content/view/44332#
Boy shot, killed after Cizre building burns down
ŞIRNEX – Nine people burned to death in a basement in Cizre where dozens of the wounded are trapped. 16-year-old Abdullah Gün, among those trapped in the basement, went outside to look around when Turkish state forces shot and killed in.
In the town of Cizre, under siege by Turkish state forces, a building in the Cudi neighborhood caught fire in an artillery bombardment, as 37 wounded were trapped in the building’sbasement. Nine people died in the fire. Yesterday evening, the death toll rose to 10, as a child trapped in the basement was shot and killed.
16-year-old Abdullah Gün had emerged from the basement of the burning building to look outside when Turkish state forces shot and killed the boy, according to Mehmet Tunç, the co-chair of the Cizre’s People’s Assembly, who is in the basement. Mehmet also reported that there are children among the 27 survivors, many with serious burns on their hands and faces.
http://jinhahaber.link/en/ALL-NEWS/content/view/44322
Building,37 residents trapped, besieged by state forces
ŞIRNEX – 37 residents were trapped in a building in the Cizre town of Şırnak. Nine of them were burned to death. The building has been besieged by armored vehicles and state forces announced “surrender” to the residents in the building. “They want to execute us in the building,” said Mehmet Tunç, co-chair of Cizre People’s Assembly.
For 14 days, wounded Cizre residents have been trapped in a basement. All attempts to evacuate the wounded and dead bodies have remained inconclusive. For more six days, communication with the wounded has been cut. According to reports received, 37 residents were trapped in another building, among them wounded residents. A fire broke out on the second storey due to state forces attacks. Fire brigade crew set out to put out the fire. However, state forces didn’t allow them to enter the neighborhood. Nine of 37 citizens burned to death. 28 residents are alive. However, some of them are burned.
Mehmet Tunç, co-chair of Cizre People’s Assembly, is also among the residents who have been trapped in the building. He stated that the armored vehicles have besieged the building and they announced “Surrender, otherwise you are responsible for what will happen.” Mehmet said, “No one is armed in the building. They want to execute us here.”
Meanwhile, three unidentified dead bodies were found in the Sur neighborhood of Cizre. The three dead bodies were taken to Cizre State Hospital by ambulances.
(at-ab-ma/gc/gd)
http://jinhahaber.link/en/ALL-NEWS/content/view/44300