Turkey: Hundreds of soldiers deployed in villages to check electricity meters
Hundreds of soldiers on Wednesday accompanied an electricity distribution company staff who toured the Kurdish villages in Southeastern Turkey to inspect electricity metering equipment, Mezopotamya Agency reported.
Videos posted in social media showed heavily armed soldiers in armored vehicles rushing to villages early in the morning as technicians tried to transfer the equipment from houses to electricity poles.
Cizre’de DEDAŞ terörü, askeri birlikler ve çevik kuvvet ile Newala İsa Axa köyü dağ tepe kuşatılmış.
— Nuran imir (@nuran_imir) September 13, 2022
Ordu ve polis güçleri de DEDAŞ’mı devredildi. #cizre pic.twitter.com/kxZBPXZyRl
“This is not the Russia-Ukraine border, this is Newala Isa Axa village in Cizre,” said Nuran Imir on Twitter, a deputy from the pro-Kurdish HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party,) adding that the staff from the electricity distribution company along with the military units besieged the village at 7 am as if they were going to war.
Dicle Power Distribution Company (DEDAS) aims to install the meters on top of poles to prevent manipulation of the electric meters but face opposition from the villagers in the region.
The electricity bills in Turkey have more than doubled since the beginning of the year.