Social media outcry: ‘Lice is burning’

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

The fire that broke out in the rural parts of Dibek (Derxust), Yolçatı (Sisê), Çağdaş (Cinezur) and Cımar neighbourhoods in Lice district of Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakır province cannot be extinguished yet.

While the cause of the fire is still unknown, the fire has reportedly grown further due to wind. Citizens have also launched a campaign on social media under the hashtag #LiceYanıyor, which means "Lice is burning."

Some of these messages are as follows:

Doğa da insanlığın ortak miraslarından.
Lice ormanları yanıyor.Haberiniz var mi?#LiceYanıyor pic.twitter.com/SGGK4likol

— Akın Birdal (@akin_birdal) July 28, 2020

Politician Akın Birdal: "Nature is also the common heritage of humanity. Lice forests are burning. Have you heard?"

Yanan lice'nin ormanları değil yanan insanlığın ortak mirası. Bu zulme ortak olmayın.#LiceYanıyor pic.twitter.com/tdFl2IaFNg

— Alican Önlü (@onlu_alican) July 28, 2020

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Dersim MP Alican Önlü: "What is burning is not the forests of Lice, it is the common heritage of humanity. Do not be a party to this atrocity."

93 ten beri yanıyoruz bir tas su döken yok.#LiceYaniyor pic.twitter.com/3yzs68UAEF

— Umut Daşlık (@DaslUmit) July 30, 2020

Umut Daşlık: "We have been burning since 93, there is no one who throws a cup of water."

Directorate: We have intervened in the fire

The Directorate General of Forestry has recently shared pictures from the region and said that its teams intervened in the fire. "The fire that broke out in Diyarbakır/Lice maquis shrubland has been timely and properly intervened by our teams," the Directorate has said and added:

"We sadly follow that manipulative photos, independent of the current fire, are being shared. Our struggle will continue until the last flame is put out."

'It does not change what it is'

It has been later understood that some of the pictures shared on some social media accounts were from the fires in 2013 and 2016. Some social media users have defined these posts as "provocation."

Involving in these debates, Hewsel Protection Platform has said, "The fact that the images are old does not change the reality of this issue, these are the latest pictures" and shared the below images:

Görüntülerin eski olması meselenin gerçeğini degistirmiyor
Bunlar da son görüntüler#LiceYanıyor https://t.co/GdRRQPqXKf pic.twitter.com/Hv7aeaRQlg

— Hewsel Koruma Platformu (@HewselP) July 28, 2020

Fires frequently break out in the region, sometimes due to drought and wind, sometimes due to conflicts. Authorities are blamed for not making the necessary interventions in these fires.

Most recently, HDP MPs Hüseyin Kaçmaz and Muazzez Orhan-Işık have brought the fire in Mount Cudi in Şırnak into Parliamentary agenda. (EMK/SD)

* News: Yeşil Gazete, Photo: Mezopotamya Agency (MA)