Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVlEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RWISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASlN ÖZETi
their own will out of fear of ending up in the
cross- fire and
5. ViII.ages evacuated because the village men
are refuslngto be part of the para-military village
guards.
Since I?89, hun~reds of villages have been
evacuated In the regIOn although thousands of vil-
1agers have accepted to move out of their own
will, frightened by clashes between the PKK and
government forces.
The practice of burning down villages, which
is said to have started over the past two years
takes place in two forms. Either some houses ~
burned do~n or the w~ole village is. torched. L0cal
sources say that If only some houses are
burned down by security forces, this is either to
punish suspected PKK collaborators or force the
rest of th~ popul~tion to arm themselves against
the terronsts; VIllages are completely torched
only when the whole population basto be evacuated
in order to prevent !be settlement from being
used again. This is mainly for logistic reasons, to
prevent the PKK from receiving local sup~lies.
On Thursday, the leftwing daily Aydlnhk c131med
in a third page headline iliat thiee villages in Kulp
had been burned down by troops after villa~érs
turned down demands to arm themselves aB3Inst
the PKK. The news report named the hamlets of
Savusça, Melle Ohli and Tekilka as the targets of
the attack. The villagers were apparently suspected
of being "PKK supporters."
Torchings decline, claims continue
.ivilian-related claims voiced by
C Kurdish activists:
August 26
Security forces reportedly raided 20 villages
including Danik, Simak, Mlshecerk, Kuzlik, Sekis,
Qirikan, Sasi and Sahis and alle~edly maltreated
many peasants who later claimed they
were threatened and beaten. Security forces allegedly
beat villagers in the village square of Merali,
in Silvan, DIyarbakir, during another operation.
August 27
Kurdish activists claimed Dotubeyazlt's Siphan
village was fired upon by security forces
who in turn claimed terrorists had o~ned fire on
them from the village. Villagers saId all houses
were shot at by troops. The same day, villagers
returning from a wedding ceremony at the
Sögütlü village of Mu~ claimed they were
stopped and beaten by special crack teams.
August 30
Activists claimed police crack teams and the
state-paid village guards attacked Urfa's Bulamk
156
district. They said many houses were destroyed.
August 31
Siverek's Silopi district was allegedly raided by
special crack teams and the state-paid village
guards of the anti-PKK Bucak tribe. After the operation,
the peasants were forced to migrate and
two villagers were taken intocustody when they
refused to move. Security forces also 0r.t~anized
an operation on the Derecik village of ~ Irnak's
Silopi district. The raid, accompanied by ar.
moured vehicles, left behind five destroyed haus.
es. A villager was killed and the peasants were
forced to move out. At least 20 houses were damaged.
The same day, all houses were torched allegedly
bX village gu~ds in the ~avsheliqiya village
of Dlyarbalar. VIllagers claImed they were
raIded by guards from the Riqala village.
September 9
Furniture, household goods and foodstuff were
destroyed when security forces raided the Hester
village of DiyarbakIr. All the houses were destroyed
and eIght peasants were taken into custody'
during another operation on Silvan's Re~ik
VIllage.
There were also claims that many houses were
destroyed during an air strike on the villages of
Duderya and Badike Hewre in Kulp, Diyarbaklf.
September 12
During operations conducted by security forces
on Diyarbalar's Eloxuso hamlet, 12 houses and
the village mosque were allegedly torched.
September 13
Security forces conductéd an operation on
Diyarbaklr's Giregos village. During the operation,
houses were searched and furniture were destroyed.
The inhabitants of Van's Xavi~ta, Perisan, Sukan
Govakevxan, Xelila, Mendeska, Terxin,
Ting, Simcar and Diresa villages were forced to
evacuate their homes and move to Cç tak and
other districts of Approximately 100 families
were displaced during the operation.
September. 15
Three hamlets in the Kulp district of
DiyarbakIr were reportedly torched by security
forces. These were named as Savu~ça, Melle Ohli
and Tekilka.