The Turkish government has started to reimplement the food embargo enacted in the 1990s to the Kurdish villages in the eastern and southeastern part of the country, according to a report by pro-Kurdish Fırat news agency (ANF) on Saturday.
Pro-Kurdish lawyers told ANF that the Turkish government which failed to supervise the tonnes of food transported radical armed organization abroad is after the bags of sugar and flour the Kurdish villagers purchase from the market.
The report said that Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu sent a notice to the Gendarmerie General Command and police directorates across Turkey and announced food embargos in 32 provinces including Ağrı, Batman, Bingöl, Bitlis, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Erzincan, Erzurum, Van, Trabzon, Giresun, and Gumüşhane.
The notice said that “Bulk purchases of foodstuff like flour, sugar, canned goods, halwa and jams from bulk sale stores, supermarkets and corner shops will be monitored by security forces and they should be assessed as intelligence. Trucks, vans, minibusses and other such suspicious vehicles should be searched in detail in road controls. Persons in possession of food and vital necessities that could be used by the terrorist organization will be interrogated in detail on where they live, their route and the number of people they are providing the ailments for.”
Lawyer Emel Demir said that the current situation surpasses that of the 1990s and added that “In the 1990s, it was just the consumption that was overseen, but now almost all factories that produce foodstuff and vital necessities will be under control. This is certainly an embargo.”
“In our villages, people prepare for the winter and buy their vital needs in bulk, such as 20-30 bags of flour or sugar because access to city centers is limited in winter times. Now, will these people be detained and questioned for buying in bulk? This is a martial law practice. And, will they be inspecting the tonnes of foodstuffs the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İnsan Hak ve Hürriyetleri ve İnsani Yardım Vakfı, or İHH, in Turkish) transports?” said Emel Demir and asked that “How can something that is allowed for them is banned for the citizens?”
Lawyer Feyzi Çelik also said that “According to the Constitution, people have the economic freedom to meet their needs. There is no legal obstacle against buying in whatever amount people want. If the individuals have been detained in the past, they will be given a hard time in acquiring their vital needs and food.”
Stating that there is no constitutional basis for this implementation, Çelik added that “People have the right to purchase however much product they wish. Such practices don’t even have a place under martial law. This is an arbitrary administrative measure. There can’t be a restriction on the purchase of goods under martial law or the state of emergency. This is completely arbitrary.”
The post Turkish gov’t reportedly launches food embargo to Kurdish villages appeared first on Stockholm Center for Freedom.
from Stockholm Center for Freedom https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-govt-reportedly-launches-food-embargo-to-kurdish-villages/
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