Turkish soldiers torture peasants in Kurdish village

The village of Peyindas in Bitlis province is under siege by the Turkish army. Last Friday, a military operation took place and the village was de facto blocked by the Turkish army. Eight villagers were mistreated by Turkish soldiers and three of them were arrested.

Women held by force
The newspaper Yeni Özgür Politika spoke to people in the besieged village. The villagers said that they had to keep their animals inside the village because of a ban on grazing and that Turkish soldiers were still lurking. On the day of the operation, village guards cooperating with the Turkish army forced their way into a family’s house and took three women to the village square. In the scorching heat, the women were held there for hours, surrounded by soldiers. According to witnesses, the women who were forcibly held in the area were not even allowed to drink a sip of water.

Soldiers tortured villager
The blockade ended after a villager Kerem Avras was forcibly arrested. Sakine Avras, wife of Kerem Avras, reported to Yeni Özgür Politik that a house search had taken place. She said that the soldiers used her as a living shield and that the soldiers had thrown smoke bombs into the barn, adding that they had put great pressure. Arvas saw her husband Kerem Avras being tortured by the Turkish soldiers. One of the arrested, Necip Tedbirli, who was paroled, said that he and the others were asked the same questions over and over again and that he did not even know why they were arrested. Tedbirli reported on the injuries Kerem Avras sustained from the soldiers’ torture. Both eyes were swollen shut and he could not walk.

Sakine Avras stated that the military tried to put psychological pressure on her and bribe her with money, adding: “They are not humans. This is not justice. It is indescribable what they have done. We want to live freely in our country without being oppressed. Like all people, we want to live peacefully in our homes.”