The narrow, dusty streets, the small houses almost on top of each other that look like tents made from cement, the hopeless expression on the faces of unemployed men, the sorrow apparent in women's eyes and the children who look old before their time from painful experiences and the difficulties of life -- all of these scenes give me a sense of their utter alienation. Cizre, since it is very close to the border with Iraq, is very attractive to those dealing in illegal trade, mainly the smuggling of almost everything. Since it is next to the Cudi and Gabar mountains, which provide suitable hideouts, it is an attractive location for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). For these two reasons, it is also very attractive to the deep state and organizations such as Ergenekon, which, under the pretext of the "fight against terrorism," was only seeking to make dirty money. Most of the impoverished in the city have very bad memories of the terrorism carried out by Ergenekon and the PKK.
Cizre is a very old settlement, dating back 4,000 years; it is believed that the area was discovered by the prophet Noah and his sons. It was the center of many civilizations as can be observed from the various ruins there. Cizre is also the site mentioned in the epic Kurdish love story "Mem u Zin." Cizre was once a center of education -- there were five medreses, including the famous Medrese Sor, or "Red University." However, in present-day Cizre only 82 percent of men and 44 percent of women are literate. Primary schools number a mere 16 today, despite the fact that there are almost 20,000 children in the city under the age of 9.
It is impossible not to be sad when one thinks about the past of Cizre and its latent potential, and thinking about the children of Cizre can easily make one feel a serious concern for the future.
Last week I was in Cizre to interview the families of those who disappeared during the 1990s, when many extrajudicial killings were taking place. Cizre was also on my way to Arbil, where there was a meeting of the Abant Platform titled "Searching for Peace and a Future Together."
As a principle, I don't conduct interviews with children, but if I have to for some reason, I make sure that a parent of the child is present. If I am interviewing parents, regardless of the topic, I prefer not to have their children around, particularly if the subject matter is of a delicate nature. In Cizre this principle of mine was completely useless and nonsensical. When their grandparents were telling me the stories of their sons -- how they disappeared, how they were beaten up in front of the whole family, how their villages were forcibly evacuated -- the children of the disappeared were present. Indeed, most of the children themselves had been witnesses to all these events, and if they hadn't, they had listened to these stories many times, not least when they ask their grandparents or mothers where their fathers are. To consider that, for these children, the stories of their own pain are their bedtime stories is truly disturbing.
This is true not only for the children of Cizre but for virtually all of the children of southeastern Anatolia; they are highly politicized just like their parents. To claim very naively that these youngsters are participating in demonstrations on the front line because they are not able to differentiate between political movements and games is to underestimate their huge hearts. To think that the Democratic Society Party (DTP) or the PKK is pushing them to the front lines is also to misjudge the reality on the ground; but to think, just as the Turkish judiciary does, that these youngsters are fully aware of the consequences of their actions is to commit a serious injustice against them.
This army of youngsters is not under the control of their parents since they have the idea that they are old enough to be involved with politics. These young people do not respect the state authority either because for most of them the uniform represents the people in power who ended their childhoods; in the near future these youngsters will also bring an end to the partial control that the PKK and the DTP hold over them. The solution to this problem is not to throw them in prison for being members of illegal organizations but to give them hope and a future -- before it's too late. Time is ticking away not only for these youngsters but also for Turkey.
