Turkish army cuts down trees and burns forests in Şırnak countryside

After the forest fires set by the Turkish military in the Cudi mountains and the massive destruction, a military fortress is now being built in Deriyê Cebrail area.

The invading Turkish army has cut down trees and started a fire in the Deriyê Cebrail area around Mount Cudi in Turkey’s south-eastern Şırnak province. The army is currently building a new military fortress in the area.

The fire started recently by fire opened from a Turkish military base in the Deriye Cebrail region, continues to spread.

The village guards brought by the Turkish army from Uludere district and Şenoba town have cut down trees in the same area.

While the fire is still going on, it is reported that the construction of a new military fortress has started in the Deriyê Mazî region of Mount Cudi.

It is further reported that many trees have been uprooted and a "security road" for the army has been constructed to expand the occupation areas. In this way, the Turkish army is trying to break the resistance in the region and restrict the guerrillas' freedom of movement.

Village guards

Village guards are paramilitary units used in Kurdistan against guerrillas and anti-government Kurds. They consist to a considerable extent of tribal leaders, large landowners, families and individuals who have often been working with the state for decades and attempt to advocate for the interests of the state in Kurdistan. Some of the village guards join this system voluntarily; others are threatened with murder, arrest, and expulsion and must become village guards under pressure. Many Kurds who have refused to collaborate have either had to flee or bow to pressure from the military and the village guards. Thousands of Kurdish villages where the village guard system was rejected were burned and razed to the ground by the state in the 1990s.