How some southeast Turkey residents are struggling with mystery murders, urban warfare
Residents in the southeastern Turkish town of Silvan are angry with the state and the Kurdistan Workers Party for the destruction of their town.
SILVAN, Turkey — At first glance, the town of Silvan in southeastern Turkey with 86,000 residents and modern buildings looks like a beautiful and serene town. But once inside the Mescit neighborhood, a war zone reveals itself with businesses turned into rubble and every single building riddled with bullets. Residents are trying to salvage whatever is left of their belongings.
Shopkeeper Dogan Celik told Al-Monitor, “First my coffee house was destroyed, then my house and finally my grocery shore. I grew up in times of war but I don’t want my children to have the same life. In three days I lost everything I had. We don’t know what to do. I moved my family to a different neighborhood.”
Nedret Yakan, who used to rent out wedding gowns, showed the destruction at his store and said his 20 years of hard work was wiped out in one week.
“I used to rent out wedding gowns. We made a living from that and sent our children to school. As you see, I have nothing left,” he told Al-Monitor.
