DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — On the morning of Dec. 12, the ancient heart of Diyarbakir, the largest city of Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast, was abuzz with anxious activity. Throngs of people hurried into the district of Sur, while others hurried out. It was the first time residents could go out freely after a nine-day curfew, imposed amid clashes between the security forces and groups linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was briefly lifted.

In one narrow street, the Cengiz family was busy loading a few belongings onto a pickup truck, getting ready to leave Sur as at least 20,000 others have done in recent days, according to local rights activists. “What else can we do? There is a war here,” Mehmet Cengiz told Al-Monitor. “How long is this war going to last? We could not go out for nine days because of the clashes. We couldn’t even get bread. The people are suffering. A solution must be found.”

As the Cengiz family headed to the home of relatives in another district, Muharrem Dolek, a restaurant worker in his 50s, stared around anxiously. He, too, has moved his family to the homes of relatives. “We could stand the clashes for two nights only. Then I went to the police and asked them to let us go because we were ruined psychologically. They told us we could go, but we can’t come back. We took the children and scattered like immigrants — two of us taking refuge in one house, three in another. Last night, they said the curfew was lifted, so I came to check on our house,” he told Al-Monitor.

Dolek, who put the blame on both the state and the PKK, admitted to suicidal thoughts out of despair. “I would have left this place if I had the means. Both sides are harming us. One side is digging trenches, then the other comes and fires guns. We are fed up. Sometimes I think I’d rather shoot myself in the head,” he said.