Ankara Has Decided to Wage an Open War Against the Kurds - US Historian

The Turkish government has deployed additional military equipment to Diyarbakir, where security services are fighting PKK activists. University of Michigan Professor Ronald G. Suny believes that Ankara has decided on an open military campaign against the Kurds, adding that the Turkish leadership's actions could lead to a full-blown civil war.

Last month, Turkish authorities imposed a curfew in a number of southeastern settlements in Turkey following an escalation in the conflict between Turkish security forces and militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party in the country's majority-Kurdish southeastern regions, where some 1.3 million civilians are reported to live. 

In the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, Kurdish neighborhoods subjected to a curfew are under attack by Turkish military forces, coming under heavy gunfire from tanks and armored vehicles, local media has reported. Reports have also emerged about the deployment of additional heavy equipment to the area.

Tank deployed in #Diyarbakir as Turkey steps up fight against #PKK https://t.co/MpIdZNFj7h https://t.co/4ae0XfiKLe

— Ruptly (@Ruptly) 2 января 2016

Citing local media and citizens' organizations, RT Russia has calculated that in the course of Ankara's 10 month old operation in the country's southeast, 11,354 stores have been closed, 100,000 civilians have fled their homes, with over 15,000 people losing their jobs in the city of Diyarbakir alone.

Speaking to Turkey's IMC TV, a local shop owner in the besieged city explained that they were forced to stay in their homes for weeks at a time. 

"I am engaged in wholesale trade. Here I have my warehouse, and further up the street is my shop. As you can see, I have nothing left, and there's nothing we can do about it. And it's the same way throughout the area. We were forced to spend 20 days indoors without being able to leave our homes. We were starving; it felt like torture," the woman said.

"We don't need anything from Erdogan, let him just leave us alone," another woman noted.

Speaking to RT, Ronald Suny, a professor of history at the University of Michigan and expert on Russian and South Caucasian history, suggested that Ankara is factually waging an open war against the Kurds, which could lead to Turkey's destabilization.

"In fact there's a kind of open war, in cities such as Cizre, and in some parts of Diyarbakir against the Kurdish population. These areas are surrounded by tanks. There are reports of snipers on the rooftops, who fire on civilians if they go out after curfew."

"In this region in southeastern Turkey, it is now difficult for people to support themselves. People are out of work, businesses are closing. Erdogan and the government have decided to openly wage a war against the Kurds in the southeast of the country – this is their policy. But in doing so, they will only provoke a civil war in Turkey, and cause a migration crisis, and another country in the region will be destabilized," Suny warned.