Curfews in Southeast Turkey
Human rights activists and Kurdish politicians accuse Turkish security forces of refusing to help people with serious wounds in the besieged town of Cizre. According to reports several people trapped in a house that was under fire have died. Commentators complain about the general ignorance regarding the fate of the Kurds.
Turkey turning into another Syria
Europe doesn't want to know anything about the war in southeast Turkey, the liberal Internet paper T24 writes in view of the most recent accusations against the Turkish government:
“The countries of Europe have engaged in dirty dealing with Turkey in an effort to solve their refugee problem. But there's one thing they haven't realised: by closing their eyes to the events in Turkey and the persecution of the Kurds, they won't solve the refugee problem in Europe but only exacerbate it. As Turkey rapidly turns into a second Syria, Turkish refugees are now joining the others who are trying to reach Europe. This dirty dealing not only violates the universal principles on which the EU is based but also Europe itself.”
Turks bear responsibility for fate of Kurds
A curfew in Diyarbakır that has lasted 56 days was extended to five other districts on Wednesday. The organisation Human Rights Watch has reported that the violence in the southeast of Turkey is mainly affecting the civilian population. These developments will cast a shadow on Turkey for years to come, the weekly of the Armenian minority Agos warns:
“Turkey stubbornly refuses to make peace with its Kurds, or at the very least it wants to dictate all the terms for that peace. Until it can do so it has no qualms about using its limitless power, and for various reasons the world is not interested in what is really going on there. But the main problem is that Turkey won't listen. History will one day call to account those who close their ears to the pleas for an end to this state of affairs and turn their heads elsewhere.”