News / Turkey

HRW says civilian deaths in southeast Turkey alarming

Tuesday, 22 December 2015 5:58 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 22 December 2015 5:58 PM ]

Turkish soldiers patrol near a barricade set up by the militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Silvan, southeastern Turkey, November 13, 2015. ©AP

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed concern about the rising civilian death toll as Turkey continues with its campaign against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeast.

Citing local rights groups, the New York-based rights organization said in a report released on Tuesday that more than 100 civilians have been killed in the restive region since July.

The report also warned that the number of casualties is likely to increase “steeply” in the coming days. It said 15 civilian deaths occurred during curfews in September and November, warning that they were just a “sample.”

The HRW report urged the Turkish government to scale back its operations and conduct an investigation into the killings in the region.

Emma Sinclair-Webb, a senior Turkey researcher at the HRW, called on Ankara to “rein in its security forces, immediately stop the abusive and disproportionate use of force, and investigate the deaths and injuries caused by its operations.”

“To ignore or cover up what’s happening to the region’s Kurdish population would only confirm the widely held belief in the southeast that when it comes to police and military operations against Kurdish armed groups, there are no limits – there is no law,” she stated.

People in the Kurdish-majority towns and cities in Turkey’s southeast have held a series of protests to express anger at the imposition of curfews there as the security forces fight Kurdish militants.

Police use water cannon to disperse Kurdish demonstrators during a protest against the curfew in the Sur district, Diyarbakir, Turkey, December 22, 2015. ©Reuters

Turkey’s southeast has been the scene of clashes between Turkish forces and the PKK militants since a shaky ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK that had stood since 2013 collapsed following the Turkish military operation against the militant group.

Ankara’s campaign began in the wake of a deadly July 20 bombing in the southern Turkish town of Suruc. More than 30 people died in the attack, which the Turkish government blamed on the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group. After the incident, the PKK militants, who accuse the government in Ankara of supporting Daesh, engaged in a series of supposed reprisal attacks against Turkish police and security forces, in turn prompting the Turkish campaign.

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