Turkish soldiers cause fire in Hakkari

The soldiers on guard at the entrance of the village of Oğul in Hakkari, allegedly opened fire. The dried herbs caught fire and the flames that covered the area with soon spread because of the wind turning an unused barn into ashes. The villagers, who could not notify the fire brigade because there was no telephone network in the village, went to an area where phones worked and informed the Hakkari Municipality Fire Brigade. The fire brigades reached the scene in a short time and tried to extinguish the fire that broke out across the river Zap.

A villager filmed the fire with his cell phone camera and said the fire was triggered by gunfire shot by soldiers. Because the village is in a dead zone, the fire brigade could not be notified until late, said the villager, adding: “We have no network in our village. We have contacted the companies concerned a number of times, but the problem still persists. Soldiers are on guard at the entrance to our village, supposedly for security reasons. They often shoot in the area. They did that at noon today too. As a result, dry grass caught fire. We couldn’t call the fire brigade until much later because we had to go to the next village. By the time the fire brigade arrived, the fire had already spread. The fire brigade tried to put out the fire on the other bank, but the water pressure was insufficient. Therefore, the fire could not be extinguished. It has now also spread to a forest area. If it continues to burn, the entire area will turn to ashes. We demand that the fire be fought from the air.”