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Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Once a safe haven, Turkey tightens grip on foreign journalists - Columbia Journalism Review

Once a safe haven, Turkey tightens grip on foreign journalists
By Burcu Baykurt
September 23, 2015

Cizre is a town of 120,000 in southeastern Turkey near the borders with Syria and Iraq. Earlier this month, the predominantly Kurdish town was isolated from the rest of the world for nine days as Turkish security forces clashed with the militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Residents suffered food, electricity, and water shortages, and some were denied access to urgent medical treatment. Only on Sept. 12, when the curfew was temporarily lifted, did unsettling images from the bullet-pocked town start reaching to the public. Turkish officials claim that 40 PKK fighters were killed, while the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) contends there were 21 civilians among the dead, including children.

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