Derya Ren - Rojda Aydın

 

DİYARBAKIR - While it was claimed that chemicals were used in the military operation launched in Eskar village of Kulp district on May 13, it was learned that dozens of trees were cut by the soldiers. Women living in the village said: "We were stuck during the operations, we live in fear."

 

The air-supported military operation against the countryside of Yaylak (Eskar) Neighborhood in Diyarbakır's Kulp district, which was launched on May 13, ended on May 19. While the village was blockaded from the first day of the operation, the base station near the village was disconnected by the soldiers.

 

On the other hand, it was stated that there were still soldiers in Dorşin and Saravan regions and that they were continuing the operation as an actual, while it was learned that one People’s Defence Forces (HPG) member died during the operation and a HPG member named Kendal Barut was injured, and later he was taken to Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital.

According to the claims of the villagers, it was also noted that chemicals were used in the area, and it was stated that the village roads were cleaned before the operation by the village mukhtar.

 

‘We could not hear from the family for days’

 

Stating that she has lived in Eskar village for about 15 years, Neslihan Yaman noted that there have been continuous operations since the day she came to the village. Underlining that they are always anxious about the operations, Neslihan said: "I am afraid of going away from the village when the operations are carried out. Because the soldiers and village guards blockade everywhere. My 11-year-old son was very scared from the operations performed several times. While the helicopters bombed the environment, the shepherds took their sheep to graze. On the other hand, there was a family very close to where the bombing took place, we could not hear from them for days. Nobody was giving us information. The shepherds were stuck on the land where the operation took place."

 

‘We are stuck in the operation area’

 

Reminding that the operation started on the first day of the eid, Neslihan said that when the bombing took place, her husband took the goats to graze. Neslihan said: "The goats came home, but when I saw that my husband did not come, I was very scared. Because bombs were falling everywhere. When the operation started, we were told that we should not leave our houses. But these are our living areas. What can we do without going out? The village mukhtar does not inform us that the operation will take place, so we take our sheep and goats to graze. But then we are stuck in the operation area."

 

‘We live in fear’

 

Stating that about 80 vehicles were carrying soldiers for the operation, Neslihan said: "We called the mukhtaron the day the operation started. We asked him to inform us because we had shepherds and animals in the forest area. However, the mukhtar told us, ‘What should I do?’ "We always live in fear. Every day, these places are bombed. This comes from their persecution. They are killing our nature. Dozens of trees have been cut down so that the helicopters can land."

 

‘We could not even go to the toilet when the operations started’

 

Fahriye Yaman said that they had to move to Kulp center after their village was burned down in the 90's, and that they returned to the village later. Noting that they could not even go to the door when there were operations, Fahriye said: "We could not even go to the toilet. We were outside when the operation started, we heard a big explosion. Everywhere was shocked with the explosion. My children had gone outside to graze the animals. I was very afraid that something happened to them. Later, my children returned, but empty cartridges were dropped as helicopters bombed and raked. It had grazed my son's shoulder. The mukhtar cleans the roads before the operation, and the operation begins after a few days."

 

Saying that the dust cloud formed after the bombing, Fahriye continued with the following words about the allegation of the other villagers that chemical weapons were used during the operation: "There was a bombing. Later, a very nice smell spread to the environment. But I do not know if this issue is chemical weapons or something else. We are siblings, why are we doing these things? Where shall we go in the face of what happened?"

 

‘We cannot even go to the toilet because of photo traps’

 

Zekiye Yaman, who stated that her daughter had two crisis and fainted during the operations, said: "My daughter suddenly screamed when the bombing happened. Then we saw that she fainted outside. We took her in after she recovered. But then we started to hear explosions again. My daughter fainted again. We could not communicate with the district of origin. We hardly took my daughter to the hospital. Our animals destroyed from the bombings. We cannot even go to the toilet because photo traps are placed in the area. We have to meet our toilet needs in the barn. We do not know what to do due to these operations."

 

Stating that odors spread to the area during the operation, Zekiye stated that they did not know where the smell came from. Zekiye also claimed that the odor could be a chemical substance and said: "A big smoke covered the top of mountain with the smell. I do not want war to happen. Why are they bombing our living spaces? We will not accept this."