9 killed in building fire in Turkey's Cizre, say activists

Nine people have been reportedly killed after a fire broke out in an apartment building in the besieged southeastern Turkish town of Cizre, allegedly following shelling by Turkish forces. 

The Ihlas news agency said that the fire broke out in the Cudi neighbourhood.

Mehmet Tunc, co-chair of the Cizre People's Assembly - an autonomous body set up by Kurdish activists in Cizre - told Ozgur Gun TV that the building caught fire following shelling by Turkish forces. 

Tunc said 37 people were in the building, including several who were already wounded as a result of the ongoing clashes between Turkish armed forces and Kurdish militants in Cizre, which has been under government siege since December.

"The remaining 28 people are alive but some of them have suffered burns,” said Tunc, who is also reportedly in the building.

“Yet, they cannot survive these conditions for another day. We put toothpaste on their injuries. Nine people with heavy wounds who were in a room all burned to death. There was some water, we poured it on them but it didn't help save them. The basement has two apartments and we are in the other one now. Mortar attacks are going on and armoured military vehicles are patrolling outside the house.”

“If we happen to die, this will clearly be an execution."

Idris Baluken, a deputy for the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HDP), also tweeted that authorities had failed to send firefighters to the building.

“We have contacted the Health Ministry so that ambulances pick up the injured. Every second lost will mean new deaths,” he wrote.

According to Zaman, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu have dismissed the politicians' statements, and were "questioning" whether there are really injured people trapped in the buildings.

Demonstrators marched to Cizre calling for an end to the curfew and for medical aid to reach at least 28 people trapped in the basement in the Cudi neighbourhood.

After defying a local authority-imposed ban on the march, the protesters were confronted with riot police and tear gas:

Three Turkish security forces were also reportedly killed in the southeast by Kurdish militants on Friday, with a further two wounded.

Three unidentified dead bodies were also allegedly found in the Sur district of Cizre and taken to the state hospital.

Cizre has been under curfew for 49 days since Kurdish militants mainly affiliated to the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H) - the youth wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) - took up positions in the town demanding autonomy for the region.

A Turkish army statement claimed that the total number of Kurdish militants killed in operations in Cizre and the Sur district of Diyarbakir had reached 701.

Hundreds of police officers have also been killed in militant attacks.

About 100,000 of Cizre's 120,000 residents are thought to have fled since the curfew was declared, according to Zaman.

Davutoglu placed the blame squarely on Kurdish militants last week, claiming that they had fired on ambulances attempting to reach the wounded.

“We fight against terror and we would take all kinds of measures to rush any wounded person to hospital, no matter whether [he or she] is a terrorist,” Davutoglu said. “But if ambulances wish to reach there, then terror elements there should immediately get out. Sincere calls should be made to them to surrender,” he said.

According to Today's Zaman, an incident broke out on Tuesday when HDP deputy Meral Danis Bestas attempted to confront Davutoglu about the injured in a corridor in the Turkish parliament.

After being pushed away by bodyguards, Bestas shouted: "Mr Prime Minister, people are dying on a daily basis. You have to meet us if you are the prime minister. Who is ruling this country?"

"First close the trenches," replied Davutoglu, referring to trenches dug by the YDG-H.

$9billion for southeast

On Friday, Davutoglu announced there would the equivalent of $9bn invested in the southeast to rebuild the region's shattered economy.

Details of a 10-point plan, which he claimed was aimed at restoring security in the region, were unveiled by Davutoglu as he visited the southeastern city of Mardin.

"We are going to bind up all the wounds. We who have welcomed two and a half million Syrians are perfectly capable of offering all our help to our fellow citizens," he said.

The plan is set to include investment incentives and subsidies to small and medium enterprises and farmers.

However, he dismissed any notion that the Turkish government would allow for any decentralisation or autonomy in the region, one of the major demands by Kurdish militants and HDP politicians.

"All citizens will be included in this plan, except those who carry arms," he added.

Merkel heads to Turkey

It was also announced on Friday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel would travel to Turkey on Monday to discuss "the further implementation of the EU-Turkey action plan" to stem the flow of refugees into Europe.

Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said they would discuss aspects of the plan that have not yet been implemented and examine "how we can make progress on reducing illegal migration and replacing it with legal migration".

Merkel and Davutoglu signed an agreement on 22 January to "do everything to reduce the number of refugees," with the EU settling on a 3.3bn euro deal to aid Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Some have criticised the EU for cutting deals with Turkey, with Gabi Zimmer, chair of European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) in the European Parliament, accusing it of turning a "blind eye" to abuses in the southeast.

"In the wake of the dirty deals agreed with the Turkish government on refugee policy, the EU and its member states have passively accepted Erdogan's war against the Kurdish people," she said last month.

"They have deliberately turned a blind eye to the ruthless violations of basic human rights. Kurdish men, women and children are paying for Erdogan's tyrannical self-interest with their lives on a daily basis."