Is Turkey's 'emergency rule' back?
With increasing tensions in the region, declaring 37 areas "provisional security zones" off-limits to civilians is seen by some as a resurrection of Turkey's emergency rule.
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — Raising the specter of the former emergency rule, a lawyer is challenging recently enacted bans that restrict residents’ movements in areas of eight Turkish provinces.
One of the areas is Geyiksuyu, a village northwest of Tunceli in southeast Turkey, which is in the middle of a beautiful wilderness and surrounded by forests. But now that wilderness is off-limits to civilians following an edict by the provincial governor citing Law 2565 on Military Forbidden Zones and Security Zones. Ostensibly, the bans are designed to protect civilians.
Villagers are upset by the ban, as Geyiksuyu itself is not in the forbidden zone, but residents need access to the restricted areas to run errands and conduct trade.
“There are people who are engaged in beekeeping and animal husbandry in that area,” Haydar Zeytin, Geyiksuyu’s top official, told Al-Monitor. “Beekeepers cannot relocate their hives, because they will lose both the bees and their produce. Winter is coming. People have to stock up on wood, graze their animals. Beekeepers must find a way to enter that zone because otherwise bears will destroy their hives at the peak of the season. What are people to do?”
