Kurds capture 50% of Turkish city on the border with Syria – Map update

Over the past few months, combined forces of the YPG (People’s Protection Units) and PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) have captured approximately half of Nusaybin city which neighbours the Syrian border city of Qamishli.

Currently, most clashes are centered at around the Newroz square and traffic supervision center. Meanwhile, skirmishes continue at the Government Office, the main police HQ, the local hospital and the city’s town hall where many Turkish soldiers have been deployed as to counter Kurdish militants.

While the PKK is yet to capture any Turkish city entirely, they have captured several districts inside the Turkish towns of Diyarbakır, Şırnak, Yüksekova and the aforementioned Nusaybin.

Nevertheless, much of PKK stays active underground, ready to strike the Turkish Army at any given time if given the order by their commanders. Also, with the backing of the Iraqi Peshmerga and Syrian YPG/SDF, they have easy access to weapons and ammunitions if needed.

For decades, the PKK has maintained a stubborn presence in the southeastern areas of Turkey and despite increasing crackdowns by the Turkish military, this Kurdish separatist group is yet to be defeated.

Since the Turkish-PKK peace deal was broken back in July of 2015, protests and firefights have been on the rise all across the country as the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has ordered his army to crush any rebellion efforts by the PKK; a group which he labels as terrorist.