Mehmet Sahfi Celik, the chairman of the village guards aid association in the Sason district of the southeastern province of Batman, said that they were objecting to the lifting of the village guarding system as they had been deprived of education, animal breeding and houses because of their struggle against terrorism.

Celik said that rumors that the government would lift the village guarding system were disturbing, adding that the guards spent 20 days a month in patrolling activities and operations against terrorists. He added they did not think that the government would leave them in the lurch.

Celik noted that his association's members included 1,400 village guards and 276 volunteer guards, stressing that the village guards of Sason had suffered the most from terrorism. "We do not want the lifting of the village guarding system, an organization which has struggled the most against terrorism," he added. He also emphasized that no one would struggle against terrorism for a monthly pay of TL 160 million unless he loved his country.

Stressing that terrorism did not end in the Southeast, Celik noted that 37 village guards had become martyrs of terrorism, while some 50 had become veterans to date.