Villagers who were forced to flee due to terrorism 30 years ago returned to Uzundere in the southeastern Türkiye this week. Although the village is a pale shadow of its former self, families had a chance to remember its peaceful past.
The PKK terrorist group terrorized the wider southeastern region starting in the 1980s, especially Hakkari, a southeastern province. A spate of counterterrorism campaigns finally drove out terrorists from the region in recent years. No major terrorist attacks have taken place in the past three years in the region.
Uzundere is located some 141 kilometers (87.6 miles) from Hakkari’s Çukurca district, situated on the border with Iraq. The PKK’s attacks forced residents to leave in 1995, either for central Hakkari or districts outside Çukurca. They do not consider returning anytime soon but had an opportunity to visit the village years later, after the Çukurca district governorate permitted them entry as security improved. They toured their former houses, now in ruins and a cemetery where their next of kin were buried.
Nebi Gültekin, who worked as a “village guard” (a quasi-official armed force helping Türkiye’s fight against the PKK), said they suffered much in the 1990s at the hands of the PKK. Gültekin told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Tuesday that they hoped the village would be suitable for settlement again. “I visited the house where I was born for the first time in 30 years. I was 18 when I left. I came back with my children. They saw our former house for the first time,” Gültekin, who recalled how terrorists killed 11 people in an attack targeting village guards in the village in 1995. “Memories came back when I returned. I got emotional when I visited my fellow martyred guards,” he said.
Ipek Dayan was 5 years old when she left with her family for Van, a province in eastern Türkiye. “I barely remember incidents back then, but I did miss this place. I am happy to visit. We want to resettle here,” she said.
