The ancient Kurdish city of Hakkari has witnessed the repression of the Turkish state for years. In Hakkari center, as well as all its districts, villages and neighborhoods, there are police stations, military posts and watchtowers. You can also see them on many hills and mountains surrounding Hakkari.

The AKP-MHP government has turned Hakkari and its districts into something similar to a winter military station. The city centers and neighbourhoods are full of armoured vehicles. There are checkpoints at the entrances of the city, the bazaar center and the entrances of many neighbourhoods, turning the city into a kind of open prison.

Although there are many military barracks and police stations in the city center of Hakkari, the area is guarded by building towers on all the hills surrounding the city center. Not content with this, the Turkish government keeps the city center and neighbourhoods of Hakkari under surveillance for 24 hours with UAVs and drones.

The state fears the people of Hakkari

People are prevented from using their democratic rights and the city is under a state of emergency law implemented de facto. The fact that the city center and many city’s neighbourhoods are under drone surveillance day and night, causes protests.

The people of Hakkari said that the state has been ruling the city of Hakkari for years with war methods. A citizen who said that the state is afraid of the people of Hakkari and that drones and UAVs are constantly watching over Hakkari, especially at night, said: “We can hardly notice UAVs and drones during the daytime, but we can see them in the sky at night. The state clearly violates private life. They've been doing this with watchtowers for years, now they're doing it with drones. The state has a great fear of the Kurdish people. But they cannot intimidate us with these abuses.”