Cizre operation (2015)

{{short description|Turkish military operation in Cizre}}

{{Infobox military conflict

|conflict=Siege of Cizre (September 2015)

|partof=Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present) and 2015–16 Şırnak clashes
(Kurdish–Turkish conflict)

|image=

|caption=

|date=September 4–11, 2015

|place=Cizre, Şırnak Province, Turkey

|result= Continued standoff until December 2015–February 2016 Cizre curfew

|combatant1={{flag|Turkey}}

• {{flagicon image|Flag_of_Turkish_General_Command_of_Gendarmerie.svg}} Turkish Armed Forces Gendarmerie
• Turkish Police Force

|combatant2={{flagicon image|Flag_of_Kurdistan_Workers_Party_(PKK).svg}} YDG-H

|commander1=

|strength1=

|strength2=

|casualties1=25 police officers injured{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/40-pkk-militants-killed-in-cizre-during-eight-day-curfew-governor.aspx?pageID=238&nID=88657&NewsCatID=341|title=40 PKK militants killed in Cizre during eight-day curfew: Governor |work=Hurriyet Daily News|date=17 September 2015 }}

|casualties2=40 killed{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/40-pkk-militants-killed-in-cizre-during-eight-day-curfew-governor.aspx?pageID=238&nID=88657&NewsCatID=341|title=40 PKK militants killed in Cizre during eight-day curfew: Governor |work=Hurriyet Daily News|date=17 September 2015 }}

|casualties3=160 civilians killed (allegedly){{cite news|title=Inside Cizre: Where Turkish forces stand accused of Kurdish killings|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36354742|publisher=BBC News|date=22 May 2016}}

}}

{{Campaignbox Turkey–PKK conflict}}

During the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (2015–present), in September Turkish security forces launched an operation in Cizre.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34227067|title=Turkey lifts week-long curfew on Kurdish city of Cizre|date=11 September 2015 |publisher=BBC News}} The Turkish security forces sealed off the city and placed a curfew for eight days, from September 4–11. The town had limited access to water and food and many of the injured were prohibited to receive professional medical treatment. The Council of Europe raised concerns about "disproportionate use of force by security forces against civilians."{{cite news|title=Turkey 'must ensure access' to besieged Cizre, says Council of Europe|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34222286|publisher=BBC News|date=11 September 2015}} Leyla İmret, the mayor of Cizre at the time, was forcefully removed from her post under charges of supporting terrorism.{{Cite web|url=https://stockholmcf.org/leyla-imret-an-active-supporter-of-the-pyd-pkk-terrorist-group-gives-speech-at-council-of-europe-session/|title=Leyla İmret, a dismissed pro-Kurdish mayor in Turkey, gives speech at CoE|last=SCF|date=2018-03-29|website=Stockholm Center for Freedom|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-26}}

On September 10, Sezgin Tanrıkulu, deputy chair of the Republican People's Party (CHP), criticized the siege of Cizre and demanded an end to the week-long curfew.{{cite news|title=CHP urges lifting curfew in Cizre, demands government explanation|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/chp-urges-lifting-curfew-in-cizre-demands-government-explanation.aspxpageID=238&nID=88294&NewsCatID=338|work=Hurriyet Daily News|date=10 September 2015}} Amnesty International expressed concern at disproportionate measures taken by Turkish authorities such as "indefinite, round-the-clock curfew", "blocking all access to the city", "cutting electricity, water and communications to the entire population of Cizre".{{cite web|title=Turkey: Authorities must allow residents of Cizre access to basic needs during prolonged curfew|url=https://www.amnesty.nl/nieuwsportaal/pers/turkey-authorities-must-allow-residents-cizre-access-basic-needs-during-prolonged|agency=Amnesty International|date=11 September 2015}} A march towards Cizre against the operation in which about 50 parliamentarians of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) was stopped in İdil by the Turkish security forces.{{Cite web|last1=Jacobsen|first1=Lenz|last2=Topçu|first2=Özlem|date=11 September 2015|title=Was geschieht in Cizre?|url=https://www.zeit.de/zustimmung?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.zeit.de%2Fpolitik%2Fausland%2F2015-09%2Fcizre-tuerkei-gewalt-pkk-ausgangssperre-hdp%2Fkomplettansicht|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-14|website=Die Zeit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214055028/https://www.zeit.de/zustimmung?url=https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2015-09/cizre-tuerkei-gewalt-pkk-ausgangssperre-hdp/komplettansicht |archive-date=2021-12-14 }} The Turkish military wouldn't allow even the passage of two Ministers of the Turkish Government, claiming Cizre to be in an area where only the military had access. The Kurdish MPs answered that they were not expecting to be threatened by the people in Cizre and{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34206924|title=Many dead in besieged Turkish city|date=2015-09-10|work=BBC News|access-date=2020-04-26|language=en-GB}}Selahattin Demirtas drew comparisons between the Siege of Kobani and Cizre. On September 12, Nils Muižnieks, human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe, expressed concern over claims of "disproportionate use of force" against civilians in Cizre and called on Turkey to allow access to independent observers.{{cite news|title=EU human rights body urges Turkey to allow access to Cizre|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/12/eu-human-rights-body-urges-turkey-to-allow-access-to-cizre|work=The Guardian|date=12 September 2015}}

On September 11, Turkey announced that it would lift the curfew temporarily,{{cite news|title=Turkey to lift curfew on mainly Kurdish town|url=https://news.yahoo.com/european-body-concerned-over-turkeys-crackdown-town-083228015.html|agency=Associated Press|date=11 September 2015}} however the open-ended curfew was reimposed two days later.{{cite news|title=Turkey imposes new curfew in battered Cizre|url=https://news.yahoo.com/turkey-imposes-curfew-cizre-governor-161759324.html|agency=AFP|date=13 September 2015}}

According to a report by the Turkish Medical Association, the security forces severely restricted medical staff in their work and armoured vehicles with snipers were parked on the hospital grounds and occupied the emergency rooms.{{cite web|title=Turkey: Hospitals are being converted into war zones|url=http://www.ippnw.eu/en/prevention-of-war/artikel/73bdfb4869fe2655c5faae4b013ef391/turkey-hospitals-are-being-converte.html|agency=IPPNW|date=13 September 2015|access-date=29 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129012617/http://www.ippnw.eu/en/prevention-of-war/artikel/73bdfb4869fe2655c5faae4b013ef391/turkey-hospitals-are-being-converte.html|archive-date=29 January 2016|url-status=dead}}

The clashes resulted in a continued standoff between Turkish security forces and YDG-H and were followed by the December 2015–February 2016 Cizre curfew.