Seven detained in raids on two villages in Uludere

ŞIRNAK

DHA Photo

Seven people have been detained in morning raids in the southeastern province of Şırnak as a part of an operation involved with a protest against the construction of a new safe road to the military post in the district.

Gendarme forces reportedly raided houses in the Gülyazı village and Ortasu (Roboski in Kurdish) village, where 34 civilian villagers were killed in a military strike in 2011, after the protest held on Jan. 15 in which one person was heavily wounded and military vehicles were damaged in clashes between protesters and security forces. The search lasted four hours.

The villagers reacted against the raids, claiming the detainees were treated badly.

Serhat Encü, who survived the military strike while losing 11 family members, was among those who were detained in the operation. Encü was seriously wounded after being hit by a gas canister on his ear in last week’s protest.

The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy Hasip Kaplan reacted against the raid via Twitter, questioning who ordered the searches in Roboski.

During the protest on Jan. 15, families of the Uludere/Roboski massacre victims were also protesting the dismissal of the investigation into the military’s airstrike.

The strike, carried out near the Turkish-Iraqi border in the district of Uludere in the Şırnak province on Dec. 28, 2011, killed 34 civilian villagers after they were allegedly mistaken for outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants while smuggling goods into Turkey.