DIYARBAKIR: Turkey on Sunday slapped a curfew on two border towns in the Kurdish-dominated southeast ahead of a looming military “cleanup” operation as it eased a lockdown in Diyarbakir.Turkish troops have been waging a major — and controversial — offensive against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) since December, imposing strict 24-hour curfews in a number of towns and cities in the southeast.
Ankara has repeatedly imposed curfews for military operations in southeastern urban centers, and on Sunday said restrictions would be slapped on two more towns — Yuksekova, near the Iranian border, and Nusaybin, on the frontier with Syria.
The aim was to “restore order and security” following an increase in “terrorist activity,” local authorities said.
Ankara has vowed to wipe out the PKK, classed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, and said “clean-up” operations in Yuksekova, Nusaybin and Sirnak, a third Kurdish city, are imminent.
As the new restrictions were announced, Turkey eased the curfew in part of Diyarbakir, the biggest Kurdish majority city, which has been under lockdown since December.
From 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Sunday, residents of part of the city’s historic Sur district were allowed back onto the streets, where some buildings have been badly damaged in the operation, an AFP correspondent said.
Residents forced from the area by the clashes and the curfews returned to inspect their damaged homes, carrying belongings in suitcases and pushcarts.
Other parts of Sur, a UNESCO world heritage site, remain under curfew to allow the authorities to “capture terrorists” and “clear explosives and booby-traps,” according to the local governor.
The police and army launched an operation in the narrow streets of Sur in early December aimed at retaking control of areas seized by armed PKK activists, who dug trenches and put up barricades.
Critics say the clashes have caused major damage and forced nearly 50,000 people in Sur from their homes since the start of December. Up to 70,000 people were living in the area before the violence erupted.
Army high command said this week its operation in Sur had killed 279 members of “the separatist terrorist organization,” the PKK, but gave no toll for security forces. Local media have put the figure in the dozens.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) says dozens of civilians have also been killed.