Varto Remains Under Popular Control With No Turkish Police Or Army In City Center

As of this evening Varto, or Gimgim Zazakî/Kurmancî, remains under popular control, according to a report from ANF.

According to information provided by DBP Party Council member Sırrı Sever at around 18:40 local time, “police and army units have been unable to enter the city.”

Sever added that the Turkish army was amassing soldiers in the Yenihastane district on the Karlıova road with reinforcements from being brought in from Hınıs, Karlıova and Muş. He said that “there was a great reaction being shown among the people following recent events and in particular the public exhibition of the naked body of a slain female guerilla. For this reason the people have taken up a posture of self-defense.”

The popular uprising in Varto follows similar events throughout North Kurdistan, where local assemblies have begun to issue proclamations of self-governance in response to a growing military crackdown carried out by the Turkish state under the leadership of an un-elected and temporary AKP government.