Turkish gov't holds firm on Cizre curfew, deputies blocked by soldiers

The Turkish government brushed aside calls by opposition parties to lift the week-long curfew in Cizre in the southeastern province of ??rnak, as it also insisted on blocking members of parliament from entering the area. 

?All of Turkey knows there is curfew in Cizre. Likewise of all of our citizens, the security of esteemed [party] leaders, esteemed ministers and lawmakers comes before everything else. We display exactly the same sensitivity for esteemed ministers and lawmakers as we display in providing security for our citizens, too,? Interior Minister Selami Alt?nok said at a press conference on Sept. 10.

?Since we considered their arrival in Cizre could lead to different provocative incidents, to provide their security and serenity, their arrival in Cizre is out of the question. We will not allow that,? Alt?nok added.

Peoples? Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirta? and other HDP parliamentarians began a 90-kilometer-long march on Sept. 9 toward Cizre after security forces halted their convoy. On Sept. 10, they launched a sit-down protest on a hillside near the border with Syria and Iraq after their path was blocked by soldiers with riot shields, party officials said. 

Cizre has been under curfew since last week as security forces seek to force the submission of locals, who have dug trenches to keep out armored personnel carriers and erected sheets between buildings to hamper the efforts of snipers. Scores have been killed by security forces since the beginning of the siege. HDP politicians have said they want to bring attention to the dire security and health conditions in the town.

The army, meanwhile, says it is conducting an operation to apprehend militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party ...