Hundreds of buildings are under threat of being demolished by invaders in Alipașa and Lalebey neighborhoods of Amed's historic Sur district under the guise of "urban renovation". Families have refused to leave their homes despite having their power and water cut off for days. Neighborhood residents expressed their protest of profiteering and the demolition of their homes by writing slogans on half-demolished walls. The writings on half-demolished walls in Sur's narrow and long streets were painted over in gray one day before the Eid. The people say: "They can paint over the writings on the walls, but they can't change our hearts."

"TIME TO RISE UP IN SUR"

The people had written "No Toledo", "Time to rise up in Sur", "We won't let you tear down Sur", "You can't tear our home down", "Sur is love", "Resist Sur", "Fasting is here, where is the water where is your Islam" and "We won't give up our homes" on the walls. The police painted over all but the letters A and K in "aşk" - "love" - in "Sur is love", turning the writing into "A. K.", a common abbreviation of an insult in Turkish.

Lalebey resident Özlem Duran (40) said the police came to the neighborhood one day before the Eid and painted over the writings. She added: "What good will painting over the walls do? Sur is in our hearts. We want our home, and nothing else. They shouldn't torture us anymore. They gathered the kids up and scolded them, asking why they wrote the things on the walls. So what? They take our homes away, but the pain stays with us. And we say enough."

Another resident said: "The writings in Sur told the tale of what happened. Everybody came in to photograph them. But the authorities wouldn't have it. They came with water cannons and masked policemen at night and painted over every one of the writings. They are even afraid of our writings on the walls."