From 2015 to 2019. Disappearance of a historical site, Sur in Diyarbakır

2015 conflict and rebuilding of the district[edit]

In 2015, militants linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) entered Sur district, erected barricades and dug ditches in the streets.^[6][7] The local authority banned public gatherings and imposed a curfew, and the Turkish Army deployed about 200 troops of the Special Forces Command to conduct house-to-house searches.^[8][9] The conflict resulted in most residents abandoning their homes.^[10] Abandoned houses in various neighborhoods of Sur district were occupied by militants, and clashes between the PKK and Turkish Army and Special Forces continued until early 2016.^[11][12]

Amnesty International has estimated that 300,000 people were displaced by the conflict, and branded the government’s response ‘collective punishment’.^[13] International Crisis Group has estimated that around 1,700 people have been killed in the resulting conflict and estimates the number of displaced people at 350,000.^[14] Human Rights Watch criticized the Turkish government for ‘blocking access for independent investigations into alleged mass abuses against civilians across southeast Turkey’.^[15]

Many houses were destroyed and registered historic buildings were seriously damaged. In March 2016, the government launched a project for the restoration of all the damaged historic structures and the rebuilding of destroyed houses in accordance of their original style.^[10] However, the project was criticized by the Turkish Union of Architects and Engineers Chambers, who claimed that the project would take “a defense-centered approach”, which would require the destruction of some historic structures.^[16]