Lawyer Eren Baskin: de facto state of emergency in Hakkari

IHD Hakkari branch executive, lawyer Eren Baskin, said that a de facto state of emergency was implemented in the entire region.

All kinds of actions and activities have been prohibited in Hakkari and its districts since 2016. Hundreds of provinces and areas across Hakkari are declared "special security zones". It is not possible to go to the highlands, and animal husbandry cannot be done as before. In the border provinces, the situation is dramatic. Together with the ban on border trade go the murders committed by the state.

Speaking to ANF about the violations of rights in Hakkari and its provinces, lawyer Eren Baskin, one of the executives of the Human Rights Association (IHD) Hakkari branch, said that a de facto state of emergency is in place in the entire province. Pointing to the provision in Article 3 of the Constitution which says that “Everyone has the right to organize meetings and demonstrations for certain purposes that are not considered a crime by law, without prior permission, unarmed and without attack in accordance with the provisions of this law,” lawyer Baskin said that this was completely denied.

Baskin underlined that today, in Hakkari and its provinces, no political thought, rights defense, aid campaign or any demonstration nor march other than those promoted by the government are allowed, and all applications or objections against this are also rejected. The lawyer pointed out the difficulty of human rights defense in such an environment.

Stating that they are trying to catch up with all the violations of rights throughout the province, Baskin said that they have been involved in many lawsuits and are keeping record of all the situations that are against the law and human dignity they have been able to prove.