Skip to main content

Turkey's Sirnak now nothing but rubble

The nine-month-long curfew on Sirnak was lifted after security forces cleared the trenches, barricades and booby traps of the PKK urban warfare units. But Sirnak is now one big pile of rubble.
People arrive at Sirnak city on November 14, 2016  after a 246-day curfew was partially lifted. 
The curfew in Sirnak, a city of 290,000, was imposed on March 14 as part of operations to eradicate the PKK from eastern Turkey. / AFP / ILYAS AKENGIN        (Photo credit should read ILYAS AKENGIN/AFP/Getty Images)
Read in 

The small town of Sirnak in Turkey resembled a large, dusty village administratively attached to Siirt province when it was made a provincial center in 1990. It eventually became a focal point of Turkey’s struggle against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), always staying in the headlines while the trenches were dug and barricades erected by the PKK’s urban warfare outfit, the Civil Protection Units (YPS).

A curfew was imposed on Sirnak on March 14, and a massive operation was launched to oust Kurdish militants. The operation lasted 80 days, but the curfew remained in place for nine months mainly because buildings damaged in the security operation were collapsing. It was initially thought that only a few buildings would need to be demolished, but a count after the lifting of the curfew determined that some 2,044 buildings were unusable.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.