Kurdish Residents Return to Their Devastated City in Southeast Turkey

 The Atlantic PHOTO

Alan Taylor - Mar 3, 2016 - 19 Photos - In Focus

Late last year, Turkish authorities fighting militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) imposed a 24-hour curfew on several predominantly Kurdish cities in southeastern Turkey, then sent in troops and airstrikes. The Turkish government has now declared their operation a success, and has relaxed the curfew in some cities. One such city, Cizre, is home to about 130,000 residents, many of whom were allowed back home for the first time in months, discovering widespread destruction resulting from the military operation. Turkish armed forces have been battling PKK rebels in the area for decades, but have stepped up their actions in recent months—while at the same time, bombing other Kurdish groups and ISIS militants in nearby Syria. Currently, Turkey, ISIS, and the PKK are all fighting each other in a hostile triangle at the meeting of the borders of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. 

  A man looks out at ruined houses after returning to Cizre, Turkey, on March 2, 2016. #
Cagdas Erdogan / Getty


Residents walk toward the city center of Cizre on March 2, 2016. #
Mahmut Bozarslan / AP


A woman looks at a building damaged during the security operations and clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants in Cizre on March 2, 2016. #
Sertac Kayar / Reuters


A boy holds a statuette in his ruined house on March 2, 2016, in Cizre, Turkey. #
Cagdas Erdogan / Getty


Damaged buildings photographed in Cizre on March 2, 2016, following heavy fighting between government troops and Kurdish fighters. #
Yasin Akgul / AFP / Getty


A cat walks in the rubble of destroyed houses on March 2, 2016, in Cizre. #
Cagdas Erdogan / Getty


A woman reacts while walking among the ruins of damaged buildings following heavy fighting in Cizre on on March 2, 2016. #
Yasin Akgul / AFP / Getty


People walk through ruined houses in Cizre on March 2, 2016. #
Emrah Gurel / AP


People walk past ruined houses and shops in Cizre on March 2, 2016. #
Cagdas Erdogan / Getty


A girl carries a baby as she walks in the debris of buildings in Cizre on March 2, 2016. #
Sertac Kayar / Reuters


A sitting room with a TV photographed in a destroyed house in Cizre on March 2, 2016. #
Cagdas Erdogan / Getty


A picture of a girl sits on the ground in a ruined house in Cizre on March 2, 2016. #
Cagdas Erdogan / Getty


A woman walks among the debris of ruined houses and buildings in Cizre on March 2, 2016. #
Emrah Gurel / AP


People walk past ruined buildings in Cizre, Turkey, on March 2, 2016. #
Emrah Gurel / AP


A man looks in despair at his ruined house in Cizre on March 2, 2016. #
Cagdas Erdogan / Getty


Ruined houses and buildings in Cizre on March 2, 2016. #
Emrah Gurel / AP


A man sits among the debris of his destroyed house in Cizre on March 2, 2016. #
Mahmut Bozarslan / AP


People walk over the rubble of destroyed houses and shops in Cizre on March 2, 2016. #
Cagdas Erdogan / Getty


A Turkish soldier gestures while standing on a hill overlooking damaged buildings following heavy fighting between government troops and Kurdish fighters in the Kurdish town of Cizre, in southeastern Turkey on March 2, 2016. #
Yasin Akgul / AFP / Getty