The documentary film “Bîra Sûrê / Sur’un Hafızası” (“The Memory of Sûr”) by journalist Azad Altay sheds a haunting light on the profound changes in the old town of Amed (tr. Diyarbakır), which in 2015 and 2016 became the scene of one of the longest curfews in modern Turkey.
The documentary, produced in collaboration with the Mezopotamya (MA) news agency, the Dicle-Fırat Journalists’ Association (DFG), the PEL production company, and director Veysi Altay, reconstructs the extensive destruction of historic buildings and social structures following the Turkish military siege in six neighborhoods of the old town district. Filming began in mid-2021, with numerous journalists involved.
“Toledo” promise, massive destruction
In December 2015, the Sur district was largely sealed off, with several neighborhoods inaccessible to civilians until the end of 2022. Then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu promised to rebuild Sur into a “second Toledo.” In reality, however, according to the criticism documented in the film, over 3,500 buildings were destroyed, including numerous listed structures such as churches, mosques, hamams, and traditional residential buildings.
A 2019 report by the Chamber of Engineers and Architects TMMOB documented the demolition of at least 334 officially protected buildings. However, observers assume that the actual numbers are much higher.
Instead of the historic structures, modern apartment blocks were built in a uniform style—with visible echoes of prison architecture. The new buildings were fenced in, and the cityscape became deindividualized. According to the documentary, new commercial space on a central street was “awarded to investors” and staged for advertising shoots with models from the West.
Decaying memories, silenced voices, and lost everyday life
The film follows the transformation of stone-paved streets into anonymous concrete landscapes—documenting not only architectural destruction, but also social destruction: the end of neighborhoods, community life, and cultural continuity. Interviews feature displaced residents whose homes have disappeared and whose lives have been uprooted.
“The camera shows not only destroyed walls, but also decaying memories, silenced voices, and lost everyday life,” reads a description of the film. According to director Altay, the walled-in “new” neighborhoods mark not only an architectural separation, but also a deliberately brought about cultural division—between past and present, between history and oblivion.
A film against forgetting
According to its creators, “Bîra Sûrê” is more than a documentary film: it is an expression of ongoing resistance against forgetting, a cinematic record of the attempt to erase memory and identity—and at the same time a testimony to their perseverance.