Behind Turkish checkpoints
The town of Silopi in southeastern Turkey has been devastated by monthlong clashes between the security forces and Kurdish militants, with local residents blaming both the government and the rebels for the destruction.
SILOPI, Turkey — The two-story building in the foothills of the Cudi Mountains, not far from the Turkish-Iraqi border, can hardly be called a house anymore. It lies in ruins, hit by shelling from a tank or a howitzer.
“What wrong did I do to deserve this?” an elderly woman laments at the debris. One cannot help but wonder whether this is a scene from Syria. But no, this is Silopi, a town in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast.
