Uncertainty Reigns Supreme in Beytüşşebap

While clashes between government forces and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Şırnak have reportedly slackened by midnight on Sunday, Beytüşşebap District Mayor Yusuf Temel and Orhun Yalçındağ, the Deputy Press and Public Relations Director of the Şırnak Governor's Office, gave conflicting accounts with respect to the current situation there.

Beytüşşebap District Mayor Yusuf Temel told bianet that security forces were absent from the area since morning and that PKK forces had taken control of the mountainous territory surrounding the district.

Yalçındağ, however, said life in the district was back to normal, while security forces were still engaged in sporadic clashes with the PKK in the countryside.

Both Yalçındağ and Temel nevertheless denied claims that appeared on the social media indicating that a curfew had come into effect in Beytüşşebap.

Mayor Temel: "The PKK is in control"

Mayor Temel said intense fighting had taken place for about three hours at night, with 10 troops and three PKK members losing their lives in the engagement, according to preliminary reports.

"The people wanted to take the funerals of PKK [members] at about 09:00, but the troops denied their request. The people then began marching while the funerals were on their way to the regiment on the backs of millitary vehicles. They hung up PKK banners over the vehicle during the march. [The soldiers] then took off these banners, and a commotion ensued between the police and the masses," Mayor Temel said.

The PKK also demolished a bridge some 10 kilometers away from the district center and which used to serve as the sole entrance to Beytüşşebap, he also added.

Yalçındağ: "The state is in control"

Yalçındağ, however, claimed the government was in full control of the district:

"There are no problems in the district center or in any other settlement. All the government officials are present in the region. Allegations that the [PKK] established its control in the central area are ridiculuous. Our governer, district governor and security forces are all in Beytüşşebap at the moment. The [PKK's] propaganda efforts have begun to turn all the more fictitious," he said.

Yalçındağ also said they had overhead some allegations concerning the outbreak of a few small incidents during the reception of the funerals.

"No official explanation has yet come about, however. Tiny incidents may perhaps have taken place, but a public unrest in the district is definitely out of the question," he added.

10 troops lost their lives and seven were injured after the PKK launched simultaneous attacks on military installations at around 22:00 in Şırnak's Beytüşşebap district on Sunday, according to figures provided by Şırnak Governor Vahdettin Özkan, the daily Radikal reported.

Some 20 PKK militants also lost their lives in the clashes, according to the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP.)

The Fırat news agency (ANF) further claimed that two police officers had also died, while another 11 troops and nine police officers were wounded in the attacks against the Beytüşşebap District Governor's Office, the Division Command, military lodgings and the police.

Where is Beytüşşebap?

Şırnak's Beytüşşebap district is roughly around 20 kilometers away from Turkey's borders with Syria and Iraq. Some 17,836 people reside in the province, with 5,619 of them living in the downtown area, according to figures from 2011.

Notable for its mountainous landscape, Beytüşşebap is located about 120 kilometers off of central Şırnak.

In addition to agriculture and animal husbandry, many locals are also employed as hired guards of the Turkish military. There are a total of 1748 hired guards in the district, including 463 volunteers and 1285 guards on a temporary status*. (EKN)

*Source: Vikipedi (Wikipedia in Turkish) and the Beytüşşebap District Governor's Office