MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

 

Bedlîs- A curfew was declared in 10 hamlets and villages of Bitlis’s Xizan (Hizan) district on July 2, 2023. During the curfew, the clashes and airstrikes intensified in two villages. In the Garzan Region, known for its mountainous and sloping roads, Turkish soldiers looted the villagers’ fruit gardens and cut down trees by using bulldozers. In an interview with NuJINHA, the residents of the village Xelapur (Yolbilen) told what they had faced during the curfew.

 ‘We could not go out for days’

The residents of the village Xelapur told us that they could not go out and graze their animals for days due to airstrikes. During the curfew, soldiers entered the fruit gardens of villagers by using bulldozers for building a road. Despite the reaction of the villagers, they destroyed their gardens and uprooted many fruit trees, the only source of income for the villagers.

The villagers told us that their only income was hazel and walnut trees. “They did this because we did not vote for them,” said Huriye Nas, one of the villagers.

 Emphasizing that their fruit gardens had been looted during the curfew, Huriye Nas said, “Every day, I go to our garden and think how we can earn a living. We have nothing left. They (soldiers) came, looted our gardens and left. We made great efforts to grow our trees but they have been uprooted.”

‘We are persecuted because we did not vote for them’

When we asked Huriye Nas, “Why did they do this?”, she said, “They did this because we did not vote for them. We are persecuted because we did not vote for them. None of the people of this village voted for them. When we were at home, they entered our garden and uprooted many trees. When we told them ‘We will complain about you’, they told us, “Those who are in Ankara sent us. How will you complain about us?’. Did those in Ankara send them to loot our gardens?”

 ‘I will not leave my village even if they kill me’

In 1994, the village of Xelapur was burned down by the Turkish soldiers when the villagers refused to become village guards. The displaced villagers returned to their village and rebuilt their houses after years. “I will not leave my village again even if they kill me. I will not leave my house and garden,” Huriye Nas told NuJINHA.

 

‘We will not leave our village again’

Fatma Özmen, another villager, told us that they had not been allowed to go out during the curfew. She said, “They brought construction equipment and uprooted our trees. They built a long road by uprooting our fruit trees. Their aim is to displace us again. But we will not leave our village again.”

‘They entered our gardens by launching operations’

Kıymet Alat, one of the villagers, told us that two innocent young people had been detained in the village during the curfew. “We have faced this persecution since 1994. They entered our gardens by launching military operations. This persecution should end now. Through the curfew, helicopters and drones flew over us like flies. We were under heavy airstrikes. We could not go out even for bringing water from the fountain.”