Buildings surrounded by debris ... Houses are being demolished in Suriçi’s Alipaşa neighbourhood that has been turned into an open prison ... The inhabitants of Sur's Alipaşa and Lalebey neighborhoods are struggling for months against the destruction of their homes. In the morning of the previous day, the residents of these neighbourhoods woke up once again with sirens and police voices. Those houses, which are still standing firmly despite all the clashes, deaths and long history, are now being torn down one by one with construction equipment.

The people, who have been surrounded by police barriers, are being once again forced into exile and emigration. Even though no agreement has ever been settled, efforts were made to seize the mentioned neighbourhoods by Turkish public housing authority TOKİ and present them to AKP supporters. The residents of the neighbourhoods however do not want to leave their homes. The Turkish police went from house to house and threatened the people to evacuate within two hours. The Turkish police surrounded afterwards the houses and barred the residents from entering or leaving the homes. And as the first step they beleaguered 50 of the 500 uppermost houses in Alipaşa neighbourhood and tried to evict the owners by force. In the neighbourhood, where tanks and police in plain dress and in uniform are operating the whole day, huge unrest evolved.

In both of the neighbourhoods, to which the water and electricity delivery has been totally cut off for days, the inhabitants used to get some water from the mosque and the church, but now also this supply has been shut off. The residents of Sur could only fetch a glass of water by standing for a long time at water tanks. Some of the women waiting in line to get water did not want us to film them, while some others spoke with us to show this scandalous situation they are facing.

SHE STRUGGLES TO KEEP THE HOUSE INHERITED BY HER FATHER

Azize Tosun who is 55 years old and living all alone in Sur for four years, got divorced from her husband and is making a living with the help of the neighbourhood's residents. Tosun, whom the Turkish state is trying to evict from her house which she inherited from her father, started to cry as she was telling us about her home and the happenings she faced. Tosun stated that the only property she has is this house of her father, asking: "What will I do if I leave here?". Tosun lamented that if she was evicted out of Sur, she would not be able to find even a tent to live in and said that because there was no other place she could go to and live, she would never leave Sur. Tosun said: "Even if I die, I will not go away from here."

ISIS DID NOT DO THIS TO THE PEOPLE OF KOBANÊ

Fevzi Bingöl expressed that they have been deprived of water and electricity for a long time now and said: "They want to get us out of here. I have been here for 40 years, I am a shop owner and my house is here. Where shall I go from now on? What they put us through, has not even ISIS done to the people of Kobanê, and even Israel to the Palestinians. We are going through very hard times. They have surrounded our house with barriers. Where could I accommodate a 13-person family if not here in Sur? Our houses are spacious. I do not have the capabilities to get another house, nor can I feed so many persons at another place."

Bingöl stated that his grandson came in the morning but found himself unable to come inside due to the barricades and said: "They shall kill us. What could be worse than that? We will leave our houses. Amidst all these barriers, amidst this situation without water and electricity they shall come every month and take our corpses out, but they shall not get us out of our homes. They offer us money to get out of our homes. They shall come and I will pay them more money than the value of my house, but they shall not evict me out of my home. I could work and pay them my debts, but I could never live somewhere else. What they are doing to us is forcible usurpation, is cruelty. We definitely will not leave Sur. They shall know this well."

"WE WILL DIE BUT NOT LEAVE"

Rojda Ersoy, who is only 17 years old and is witnessing this brutality, underlined that Sur has been turned into an open prison, but no matter what they do, the state forces will never make the people leave Sur. Rojda Ersoy stated that the state is deliberately putting them daily through pressures and said: "Humans do not do such things to each other. Which sect and religion allows those acts of them? They call themselves Muslims. But they have neither religion nor faith. They think they will be able to expel us from here through misery and poverty. We will bury them under the rubble of Amed, but we will not leave Sur. We are at the moment waiting as silently as possible. The soul leaves the body only once. If it keeps on going like this, I will burn myself. And I will not allow them to get even my corpse out of here."

TMMOB: THE STATE IGNORES THE CONSTRUCTION PLAN

Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) Amed branch Co-chair Fatih Tekin, who is continuously counselling with the residents of Sur and providing solidarity, stated that when construction plans are made for the protection of Sur, it must be done in accordance to its organic and social pattern. Tekin stressed that the plan has been set without taking into consideration Sur's inhabitants and regional characteristics and by this the state strives after its destruction.

Tekin explained that Sur will once again be opened up for development through the construction of wide streets and outposts, stressing that this is an unacceptable project against which they will resist.

Tekin stated that the people of Sur are not being offered any kind of shelter and jobs and their houses are simply torn down, adding: "The state tries to chase away the people of Sur by victimising them, by using violence and oppression. It is the duty of us all to oppose this tyranny."