STRUGGLES
Struggles-for-autonomy-in-Kurdistan
Struggles-for-autonomy-in-Kurdistan
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The struggle for autonomyin Cizîr<br />
This article first appeared on 4 December 2015.<br />
Since summer 2015, the<br />
streets ofCizîr (Cizre in<br />
Turkish) were once again<br />
barricaded by 'people's<br />
defence forces' and people<br />
formed street communes<br />
and neighbourhood<br />
assemblies to organise<br />
themselves independently<br />
ofthe state. These<br />
assemblies try to build<br />
autonomy by, for example,<br />
setting up commissions to<br />
solve disputes, looking<br />
after self-defence ofthe<br />
community and<br />
organising education in<br />
Kurdish.<br />
In response, the Turkish police and army have imposed countless curfews on the city and<br />
have attacked residential neighbourhoods with extreme violence to try to regain control. In<br />
September 2015, Cizîr was besieged by the Turkish army and 21 people were killed. A curfew<br />
was placed on the city for nine days. Yet more curfews were declared after that. People kept<br />
resisting throughout November, while electricity was shut offand emergency services were<br />
prevented from reaching sick people.<br />
voices from the struggles for freedom in bakur<br />
However, the history ofresistance in Cizîr did not begin there. The interviews below are<br />
about an earlier period ofthe rebellion in Cizîr, the period after the Kurdish uprising<br />
(serhildan) in 2014 against Turkish state support for the Daesh attack on Kobanê, a Kurdish<br />
city in the autonomous region ofRojava (within the borders ofSyria). They provide some<br />
context to the events that have since unfolded on the streets ofCizîr.<br />
Above: A street in Cizîr after the 2015 curfews. Photo provided by friends in Cizîr.<br />
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