SEMZINAN, — A delegation of BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) and DTK (Democratic Society Congress) who paid visit to Şemzinan areas was stopped by guerrillas of HPG (People Defence Forces) who set up checkpoints on the roads controlling the region.
Speaking to ANF after completing its survey of the region, BDP co-chair Gulten Kişanak said that they didn’t come across Turkish security forces in the region.
“We came across guerrilla forces on the way back from the villages we visited but there were no security forces in the region except for a military point on the way out of Şemzinan province. A large number of cultivated areas and yards were completely burnt out in the villages where people say they are deliberatively targeted by the bombardment of security forces”, said Kişanak.
BDP Mersin MP Ertugrul Kurkçu also pointed to the absence of Turkish security forces in the region and said, on the basis of the information from a village headman seven out of ten villages in the area have been evacuated because of the clashes.
Especially children have been greatly affected by the bombardment but people don’t want to leave their villages, Kurkçu underlined and added that; “The people we talked to told us that a colonel warned them to leave the region for safety and that none of the authorities has taken a step to ensure their security.”
Kurkçu also gave information about their encountering guerrillas at a road checkpoint; “The group of guerrillas we came across made propaganda for their purpose and said they fight for the freedom and democratization of all peoples in Turkey and the Middle East.”