Village guards
| Village guard system | |
|---|---|
| Geçici köy korucusu | |
| Active | 26 March 1985—present |
| Area of operations | |
| Strength | 80,000 (2016) |
| Part of | Gendarmerie General Command |
| Opponents | |
| Battles and wars | Kurdish–Turkish conflict |
Village guards (Turkish: Korucular), officially known as Geçici ve Gönüllü Köy Korucuları ("Temporary and Voluntary Village Guards") are paramilitaries recruited mostly from ethnic Kurds but also from ethnic Circassians,Turks,Uzbeks and Kyrgyz as well. Originally they were set up and funded by the Turkish state in the mid-1980s under the direction of Turgut Özal. Their stated purpose was to act as a local militia in towns and villages, protecting against attacks and reprisals from the insurgents of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The rationale behind set up of the system was that it would be helpful to the Turkish Army to have an additional force of people who knew the region, and the language in order to assist in military operations against the PKK.
They have been implicated in attacks on Kurdish internally displaced persons returning to their villages after forced evacuation. Around 50,000 to 90,000 village guards are still present in southeastern Turkey,.
The village guards are frequently targeted by PKK militants as they are seen as "traitors". During the ongoing conflict since 2015, 62 village guards have been killed. Accepting to become a village guard is a largely voluntary process, although there are exceptions (see below). A village guard can expect to be paid up to $200 (~130€) per month.
Whilst by no means officially endorsed by the Turkish Government, some village guards are reported to have been involved in "disappearances", extrajudicial executions and torture,
...
Wikipedia