*As published on Ahvalnews on 05.12.2017 https://ahvalnews.com/sur/ancient-heart-turkeys-biggest-kurdish-city-ripped The world’s longest 24-hour curfew continues in my hometown. The curfew that began in six districts of Diyarbakır’s ancient Sur neighbourhood has gone on for two years now. These six districts make up 75 hectares of Sur’s total 148 hectares, that is, about half of Sur. The curfews […]
Tag: Diyarbakır
I am like Diyarbakır: Grieving, furious, resentful but still, I stand. Last Friday 370 civil society organizations were closed by the government under the allegation of supporting terrorist groups. 50 of these organizations are based in Diyarbakir, in my city. There are associations that support the families who lost their houses during the curfews or […]
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Writing from Diyarbakır under Blockgade
Writing from Diyarbakır under Blockgade Diyarbakır, the unofficial capital of the Kurdish people, has been one of the main locations of armed conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state. Since August 2015, numerous curfews have been declared in the city and its villages, hundreds of civilians have been killed, the center of the 5000 […]
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Living with the Curse of the Armenians
Living with the Curse of the Armenians Nurcan Baysal Translated by Nathalie Alyon Published in Journal of Levantine StudiesVol 5.2 Special Edition: The Armenian Genocide http://www.levantine-journal.org/Sneak+Peak+dock-ument+from+Vol+52_h_hd_147_18.aspx My great grandmother Ayşe Teyfur—my “Nene”—passed away in October 2014, at the age of 104. Despite growing up with her, I couldn’t communicate with my Nene in conventional ways—she didn’t speak Turkish […]
Yazidis are killed by saying“La İlahe İllallah”[1] Most of the Yazidis who came to Diyarbakır are staying as guests on property belonging to the Yenişehir Municipality, which is on the way to Mardin. The site is 10-15 kilometers away from the city center, and known among locals as the picnic site. A smaller group of […]