The Association for Culture, Aid, Solidarity with Families that Lost Their Relatives in the Cradle of Mesopotamia (MEBYA-DER) made a press statement to mark the 7th anniversary of the murder of 288 people during the Turkish state forces’ genocidal attacks in the Cizre district of Şırnak in 2015. The families who lost their relatives during the "curfews", members of the Free Women's Movement (TJA), the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Şırnak Provincial Organization, HDP administrators, the Peace Mothers Assembly and numerous other people joined the press briefing in front of HDP’s Cizre district office.

HDP Şırnak Provincial Organization Co-Chair Abdullah Güngen said that they would not forget the Cizre blockade.

MEBYA-DER Şırnak Branch Co-Chair Serhat Küçük read out the statement behind a black banner reading “We will not forget the 14 December Cizre blockade”.

NEARLY 300 PEOPLE KILLED

Küçük recalled the massacres in the basements of Cizre and stated, “The city blockades imposed as part of the 'curfew' in 2015 and 2016 were recorded as the most serious unlawfulness, human rights violations and brutality in these lands. The city blockades that started in the cities of Kurdistan on August 16, 2015 gained new momentum following the blockade of Cizre on December 14, 2015. These aggressive and fascist practices led to a massive destruction, humanitarian crisis and brutality in our besieged cities. Cizre was the most devastated city during these blockades. During the 3-month blockade in Cizre, nearly 300 people, including elderly, women and children, lost their lives and hundreds of people were injured. Thousands of houses were damaged, and tens of thousands of people were displaced.”

Küçük noted that the dead bodies of people killed by state forces could not be reached and retrieved for days, which gave pain to their families. “We know very well that although the bans were introduced in 2015, the massacres took place as part of the 'Collapse Plan' which was introduced by the government during the National Security Council meeting on October 30, 2014. While the anti-Kurdish policies killed people, the living spaces of people were also burned and destroyed. People were forced to migrate. The families of those killed during the blockades could not reach the corpses for days. Dozens of dead people were buried in cemeteries of the nameless without informing the families. Moreover, dozens of bodies were kept in morgues for months for getting DNA samples, which further agonized the families.”

Küçük noted that the trials were not conducted fairly: “All attempts to bring these crimes before domestic and international courts have remained inconclusive. As of today, 63 cases are pending before the Constitutional Court. 6 cases will be sent to the ECtHR since domestic remedies have been exhausted. 30 cases have been dismissed. 8 cases have remained inconclusive since DNA samples did not match. 20 cases are pending. All the crimes committed during the blockade were legitimized by the AKP-MHP government. We do not accept these unfair trials. We will continue our struggle for justice until those responsible receive the punishment they deserve before an independent judiciary. We urge democratic public opinion to support the legal struggle of the people of Cizre. Those responsible must be held accountable.”