In Diyarbakır, Turkey, large pieces of white tarp hang vertically in the alleys, blocking the view of anyone trying to peer inside. In front of them, police with automatic rifles stand between sandbag barricades, denying entrance to civilians, as much of the city’s central district remains under curfew.

Still, if one waits, the occasional gust of wind will sway the plastic sheets just enough to glimpse the burned-out buildings and storefronts sprayed with bullet holes that lay behind.

This is the Turkish state’s cheapest way to cover up the months-long war it has been waging on Kurdish fighters in the nation’s southeast. More advanced forms of censorship involve detaining academics, denying media access, deporting foreign journalists, and much worse.