TURKEY / KURDISTAN : 133 new military bases under construction

ANF – News Desk 12.11.2013 – The Turkish state has increased the construction of military bases in Kurdistan despite the PKK ceasefire and the redeployment of Kurdish guerrillas in South Kurdistan. According to Turkish newspapers there are already 149 military bases and another 133 are under construction.

The redeployment of Kurdish guerrillas was part of a plan which provided for a demilitarization of the conflict and the progression towards a democratic solution. However, documents obtained by ANF confirm that the state has used the ceasefire and redeployment as an opportunity to strengthen the existing military installations and in some cases to build completely new ones.

Particularly striking are the two major bases currently under construction at Oremar, a district of Yüksekova in Colemerg (Hakkari).

The bases are made of concrete anti-blast walls, bunkers and underground tunnels along its perimeters.  According to the report heliports provide access to the sites, and the increased pace of construction suggests that the army wants to complete the project before winter. The neighborhood in recent decades has been the site of many clashes between the PKK and the military, and the construction of new bases in the hills of “Martyr Zinar” and “Martyr Siyar” – as the sites are known to the guerrillas – calls into question the sincerity of the government in the pursuing a peaceful settlement of the conflict along nearly three decades.