21 civilians killed in Kurdish town in southeast Turkey: HDP
Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party has announced the death of at least 21 civilians during clashes between Turkish soldiers and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants in the Kurdish-populated town of Cizre.
The announcement by People's Democratic Party (HDP) on Thursday came after Turkey said as many as 32 PKK militants and only one civilian had been killed in clashes with Turkish forces in the restive town in southeastern Shirnak Province near the border with Iraq and Syria.
A curfew was imposed on Cizre last Friday as Turkey pushes ahead with its military operations against the PKK militants.
HDP sources said snipers affiliated with Turkish security forces had targeted civilians in Cizre.
Turkish police forces have prevented HDP leader Salaheddin Demirtash and a number of other pro-Kurdish politicians, including two cabinet members, as well as their supporters from marching into Cizra to protest the dire conditions in the town.
Turkey’s Interior Minister Selami Altinok, however, said in a press conference that the pro-Kurdish politicians were blocked from going to Cizre for their own safety, adding that their presence “may cause provocative events, so it’s out of the question for them to go there; we will not allow that.”
HDP lawmakers have accused President Tayyip Erdogan and his AK Party of using deadly military actions in Kurdish-populated areas in a bid to incite nationalist sentiment ahead of upcoming elections.
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