The Turkish military has set up X-ray scanners at the entrance of a Kurdish-majority village in southeast Turkey and has allegedly been strip-searching incoming villagers, the Artı Gerçek news website reported on Friday, citing a member of parliament.
The allegation was raised on social media by Öznur Bartın, a parliamentarian from the pro-Kurdish Democracy and Equality Party (DEM).
The practice reportedly is taking place in the village of Düve located in the southeasternmost province of Hakkari.
“Don’t say it’s impossible,” Bartın said. “It’s possible when it comes to Kurds.”
She also submitted a written inquiry about the scanners and strip-searches to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
Düve is among the dozens of villages that were evacuated in the 1990s amid the clashes between the security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The PKK is an armed separatist group and has been designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and much of the international community.
The conflict between the militant group and the Turkish state has been going on for more than four decades and has claimed the lives of nearly 40,000 people.
Turkish security forces have been accused of many human rights violations in the predominantly Kurdish region including arbitrary detentions, torture and even abductions.
The allegations have been on the rise since the breakdown of the government’s peace talks with the PKK in mid-2015.
