BISMIL, Turkey — There is a street in the town of Bismil, in Diyarbakir province, whose entrance is covered with large drapes. Behind the barrier, a group of young people is armed with Kalashnikov rifles. Their faces are covered, with only their eyes visible. Their average age is about 20. Two young girls lead them. One says her name is Sara, and the other is Jin. They constantly give orders to people around them.
Armed youngsters appear to control this street. They drive back and forth in cars they seized from residents. Cars bring in food and boxes that appear to contain ammunition. One masked boy who calls himself Vandetta scans the area with binoculars. Then Jin arrives and says it is her turn to stand guard.
Jin answered Al-Monitor’s questions. She said the group started taking action because of incidents in the region. “The state, under the pretext of a solution process, stalled the Kurdish people for 2½ years. We reject [this],” she said.
Like many settlements in the region, Bismil has seen a lot of fighting. The militants have dug ditches in the streets and put up barricades to keep the police out. There have been fatalities among militants, security forces and civilians. The latest civilian fatality was Elif Simsek, 9, who was killed when a rocket hit her house. The governor’s office said Simsek was killed by a rocket fired by the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H). Jin denied it.
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