The small town of Sirnak in Turkey resembled a large, dusty village administratively attached to Siirt province when it was made a provincial center in 1990. It eventually became a focal point of Turkey’s struggle against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), always staying in the headlines while the trenches were dug and barricades erected by the PKK’s urban warfare outfit, the Civil Protection Units (YPS).

A curfew was imposed on Sirnak on March 14, and a massive operation was launched to oust Kurdish militants. The operation lasted 80 days, but the curfew remained in place for nine months mainly because buildings damaged in the security operation were collapsing. It was initially thought that only a few buildings would need to be demolished, but a count after the lifting of the curfew determined that some 2,044 buildings were unusable.

Sirnak residents trickled back home after the curfew was lifted, but they were shocked with what they found and couldn’t find. The town had been leveled to nothing more than mounds of rubble. People had no choice but to try to find what was left of their homes.

Walking over the rubble with his friend Celadin Baran, Sait Batmaz searched for his house. The two argued over whose house they were standing on. Baran said it looked like his house at first, but by using an unaffected landmark building, he was able to find what was left of his place — a few pieces of iron and a bit of rubble.