Turkey: Displaced and Dispossessed

Amnesty International

Amnesty International

2016

In July 2015 when a two-year ceasefire broke down, Sur – the historic central district of Diyarbakır – became the scene of the clashes in the city. Tens of thousands of people were forcibly displaced from Sur alone, while across the region the figure is likely to be around half a million. Concerns about how they would survive under round-the-clock, indefinite curfews, worries about their children’s education, limited access to food and healthcare, water and electricity shortages, and the use of heavy weaponry were among the main reasons for the ‘exodus’. But the fighting ended in March 2016, so why have the majority of residents not been able to return home?