Morning curfew lifted in Diyarbakır, night curfew still in effect

DİYARBAKIR

Turksih soldiers stand guard near their armoured vehicles in an empty square in Diyarbakir on Oct. 8. AFP Photo / İlyas Akengin

The curfew imposed following deadly clashes over protests condemning the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) assault on the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane was readjusted by the Turkish authorities late on Oct. 8.

The Diyarbakır Governor’s Office has announced that the morning curfew that has disrupted daily life in the province will be lifted on Oct. 9. However, the night curfew will be maintained for at least one more night, starting at 6 p.m. and continuing until 6 a.m. on Oct. 10. Schools were closed and flights were canceled during the curfew.

Twelve people have died in Diyarbakır province alone, where violent clashes erupted between supporters of Kurdish movements and members of the Free Cause Party (Hüda-Par), the political wing of the radical Turkey-based Islamist Hizbullah group.

The magnitude of the clashes across Diyarbakır prompted the army to dispatch troops to the city, a dramatic first since the state of emergency in the province was lifted in 2002 after many years.

Selahattin Demirtaş, the co-chair of the main party encompassing Kurdish politicians at Parliament, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), has called on demonstrators for restraint, while also urging the government to decisively confront ISIL. The anger caused by the perceived inaction of the Turkish state over the ongoing developments in Kobane, is one of the main reasons for the protests, Demirtaş said.