Bomb blast hits Turkish military vehicle in Diyarbakir injuring eight soldiers.

June 3, 2016 By administrator

A bomb explosion hit a Turkish military vehicle in Diyarbakir Friday, injuring eight soldiers.

Diyarbakir Provincial Governor’s Office said in a statement that members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) had planted the bomb on the road linking Diyarbakir to the city of Silvan, and set it off as the soldiers’ car passed by.

“Eight soldiers in the armored vehicle have been wounded. The wounded soldiers have been taken to hospital after they were given first aid treatment,” the statement said.

The PKK recently attacked a military vehicle in Nusaybin. A dozen police officers were injured. The militants detonated a roadside bomb as the military vehicle was traveling along a road in the area.

A shaky ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015, and attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since.

Ankara has been engaged in a large-scale campaign against the PKK in its southern border region in the past few months. The Turkish military has also been conducting offensives against PKK positions in northern Iraq and Syria.

The operations began in the wake of a deadly July 2015 bombing in the southern Turkish town of Suruc. More than 30 people died in the attack, which the Turkish government blamed on the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

After the bombing, the PKK militants, who accuse Ankara of supporting Daesh, engaged in a series of supposed reprisal attacks against Turkish police and security forces, prompting the Turkish military operations.

Turkey: Lawsuit filed against nationalization of Armenian church in Turkey’s Diyarbakır

April 30, 2016 By administrator

armenian church in dyabekeer The foundation of St. Giragos (Surp Giragos) Armenian Church, which is located in Sur district of Turkey’s primarily Kurdish-populated Diyarbakır city, has filed a petition with the court that the decision to expropriate the church be declared null and void.

Ali Elbeyoğlu, an attorney of the foundation, noted that the respective lawsuit is filed against the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning of Turkey, according to Agos Armenian bilingual weekly of Istanbul.

The attorney stressed that the nationalization of this church runs contrary to the Turkish law on conservation of cultural heritage as well as to international agreements, including the Treaty of Lausanne.

According to the Turkish Council of Ministers’ decision, all structures in Sur district, including St. Giragos Church, were expropriated for “protection.”

St. Giragos, which is one of the largest churches in the Middle East, reopened as a functioning church in October 2011.

It was renovated with co-funding by Diyarbakır Armenians throughout the world, and Diyarbakır City Hall.

Turkish nationalists replicate the original Armenian MP Selina Dogan who called Diyarbakir by the name of Tigranakert

February 4, 2016 By administrator

Selina Dogan, the Turkish MP Armenian opposition

New messages on his Facebook site Selina Dogan, the Turkish MP Armenian opposition party (CHP) Republican People’s Party, has caused a stir among Turkish nationalists. With members of the Istanbul branch of the Republican People’s Party, Selina Dogan went to Diyarbakir, the capital of Turkish Kurdistan which she presented on its website under the name of Tigranakert, the ancient capital of Armenia Tigranes the Great (Tigran). Turkish nationalists responded to the Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament by dozens of articles on social networks.

Krikor Amirzayan

Elder member of Diyarbakır Armenian community dies at 86

January 19, 2016 By administrator

DHA photo

DİYARBAKIR – Doğan News Agency,

Sarkis Eken, an 86-year-old known as one of the oldest Armenians born and residing in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır, passed away at Dicle University’s hospital, where he was receiving treatment.

Eken, who also known by his Turkish name, “Uncle Sıtkı,” was born in 1930 in the Başbuk village of Diyarbakır’s Silvan district and was living in the Meryem Ana Assyrian Church in its central Sur district for 55 years.

He lived out his final years alone after losing his wife of 65 years, Baydzar Eken, in 2014, only two months after their official civil marriage.

His funeral was initially planned in Surp Giragos Armenian Church in Sur’s Fatihpaşa neighborhood, but the venue was changed due to the curfew in Fatihpaşa.

The one-hour ceremony, which was orchestrated by priest Yusuf Akbulut of Meryem Ana Assyrian Church, was attended by Diyarbakır Church spiritual leader Ahmet Güvener, Sur deputy mayor Azize Değer Kutlu from the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), local authorities, artists and Eken’s relatives and friends.

Priest Akbulut said the ceremony would have been attended by many more from both Turkey and abroad if there were not any ongoing clashes in Sur district. He added that Eken was a beloved man who always aimed at being a good person.

Eken was laid to rest in the Christian church in Diyarbakır’s Urfakapı district.

January/19/2016

EU condemns days-long curfews in Turkey’s Diyarbakır

November 19, 2015 By administrator

Kurds walk past a destroyed building in a street in the Silvan, Diyarbakır, after clashes between Turkish forces and Kurdish militants ended in the embattled town, on November 14, 2015. (AFP)

A European human rights body has strongly condemned the Turkish government for its days-long curfews imposed across the country’s predominantly Kurdish southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

In a single-page statement issued on Wednesday by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks, Turkish government’s “frequent and widespread” use of curfews in the towns of the southeastern region was described as disproportionate and unnecessary.

“Imposing open-ended, round-the-clock curfews in entire neighborhoods or towns until further notice represents a massive restriction of some of the most fundamental human rights of a huge population,” said Muiznieks.

On November 3, Ankara declared a curfew in three neighborhoods of Silvan, a town in Diyarbakır, in order to battle militants belonging to Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and members of the Patriotic Revolutionist Youth Movement (YDG-H). During the 12-day curfew, Turkish security forces backed up by tanks and combat helicopters launched a large-scale operation against the militants that led to the death of six civilians.

Muiznieks stated that he received “very distressing allegations of human rights violations during this last curfew.”

“I therefore urge the Turkish authorities to reconsider this practice and ensure that in the future anti-terror operations are more limited in scope and the disruption of public life is strictly proportionate to the aims pursued,” the statement further read.

Turkey has been engaged in a large-scale military campaign against the PKK across the mainly Kurdish southeastern and eastern regions of Turkey, and in northern Iraq, since a two-year ceasefire broke down in July.

The operations began in the wake of a deadly bombing in the southern Turkish town of Suruç, an ethnically Kurdish town located close to border with Syria, on July 20, killing over 30 people.

The Turkish security forces and the PKK have since been engaged in a series of tit-for-tat attacks.

Source: presstv

Exceptional picture on the Armenian genocide survivors conducted by the Germans soldiers in Diyarbakir

September 26, 2015 By administrator

Haig Demoyan director of the Genocide Museum of Yerevan has announced that the museum has been enriched by a historical and exceptional image of the Armenian Genocide. On his Facebook site, Haig Demoyan says “a few days ago after much research, we managed to get their hands on a picture of 1915. It represents the Armenian orphans homeless, dragging through the streets of Diyarbakir and the Austrians military tending them bread. From this, witness the German words inscribed on the photo. In all likelihood this photo was made by the military Germans because it was found in Germany. This is an exceptional testimony to the consequences of the Armenian Genocide. “

Krikor Amirzayan

Turkish police attack and loot Armenian church in Diyarbakir

September 17, 2015 By administrator

The St. Giragos Armenian Catholic Church in Turkey’s Diyarbakir city became the target of attacks by the Turkish police during the curfew announced in the city’s Sur municipality of Diyarbakir.

The policemen not only attacked the ancient church, but also stole certain historic items, Akunq.net reports.

President of the Armenian Association of Mesopotamia Arat Karagozyan said the Armenian community plans on filing a lawsuit with the court. According to him, the damage inflicted amounts to 300,000 Turkish liras.

“The police entered the church, breaking its historic doors. The large attack on the church is apparent. Six large historic faience pictures and a number of carved stones were stolen,” he said.

Earlier, St. Giragos suffered damages during clashes between Turkish police forces and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militia.

Turkey: Two policemen wounded in a PKK attack against a police station in Diyarbakir

August 26, 2015 By administrator

The PKK attacked the police station in Diyarbakir Cermik District (Southeast), very early Wednesday morning.

According to information provided by the police authorities, a group of rebels attacked the police station at 3:00 local, using home-made explosives.

In the attack, two policemen were slightly injured.

The authors of the attack fled the area immediately when the replica forces.

Police launched an operation in the region to find PKK rebels, perpetrators of the attack according to news agency Anadolu.

Turkey: Three Kurd mayors in Diyarbakır arrested after autonomy declarations

August 23, 2015 By administrator

DİYARBAKIR – Anadolu Agency

DHA Photo

Four mayors in southeastern Turkey have been arrested for announcing their autonomy from Ankara in response to violent attacks by state forces during battles between the military and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Three people, including Hakkari Co-Mayor Dilek Hatipoğlu, were arrested by a local court on Aug. 23 for attempting to damage the constitutional system. Nurullah Çiftçi, a Hakkari Municipal Council member, and Peace and Democracy Party (HDP) District head İsmail Sihat Kaya were also arrested by the court.

A local court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır ordered the arrest of five people on Aug. 23, including the co-mayors of Sur district, Seyid Narin and Fatma Şık Barut, as well as Silvan Co-Mayor Yüksel Bodakçı, on charges of “disrupting the unity and territorial integrity of the state.”

Two other suspects identified by their initials A.R.Ç. and G.Ö. were among the five arrested people, according to a statement released by Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor Ramazan Solmaz.

They were sent to prison pending further trial.

Two other people were released on conditional probation, the sources added.

Police are still on the lookout for four more suspects.

Four DBP co-mayors were detained on Aug. 19 in two districts of Diyarbakır over recent statements declaring autonomy from Ankara.

The recent prevalence of autonomy statements from DBP officials in southeastern provinces first began on Aug. 10 in Şırnak, when DBP provincial head Salih Gülenç vowed to “build their lives on the basis of democracy” on the grounds that the state had lost its legitimacy.

The second statement, meanwhile, came from Hakkari on the same day as military operations continued against the PKK. DBP Hakkari central district co-chair İbrahim Çiftçi declared the area’s autonomy, saying, “No one assigned by the state will govern us.”

On Aug. 15, similar autonomy statements came from the Silvan district of Diyarbakır and the southeastern province of Batman. Batman Municipality co-chairs Sabri Özdemir and Gülistan Akel made a joint statement declaring autonomy for the southeastern province.

In the wake of the announcement in Silvan, security forces initiated a spree of violence that resulted in numerous burnt-out buildings and allegations of human rights abuses.

On Aug. 22, the Interior Ministry launched investigations into 93 eastern municipalities held by the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) on charges of lending logistical support to the PKK.

The DBP, the sister party of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), holds municipalities in three metropolitan cities, 11 cities, 68 districts and 23 towns. The DBP-held metropolitan municipalities in Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van are subject to the investigation.

Source: hurriyetdailynews

Breaking News: Turkey Kurdish PKK attack Turkish power station, one soldier killed

August 23, 2015 By administrator

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey – Kurdish militants armed with assault rifles attacked a hydroelectric power station near the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir on Sunday, killing a soldier and wounding three others, security sources said.

The attack, the latest in two months of escalating clashes which have brought a peace process to the brink of collapse, did not disrupt the operations of the plant. Military attack helicopters were searching for the militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) after they fled, the sources said.

Turkey has launched more than 400 air strikes against PKK camps in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey since late July, in what it says is a response to mounting attacks on police officers and soldiers. Ankara, the United States and European Union all consider the PKK a terrorist organization.

Kurdish activists accuse Turkey of launching the military campaign in a bid to stifle Kurdish political gains in Turkey and territorial ambitions in northern Syria, where groups allied to the PKK have been battling Islamic State insurgents. Ankara denies these accusations.

Source: jpost.com