Three dead in Turkey as pro-Kurdish protests turn violent Three protesters have been killed in Turkey as Kurds take to the streets to express their anger about the IS advance on Kobane Police used tear gas and water cannon in Istanbul against demonstrators protesting lack of action against IS in Kobane (AFP) Pro-Kurdish demonstrators angered by Turkeys lack of action in the fight against Islamic State miltants on the Syrian border clashed with police across the country on Tuesday, leading to at least threee deaths and a score of injuries. One young pro-Kurdish protester was killed in the southeastern city of Mus while police used tear gas and water canon to disperse angry protests in Istanbul. There were conflicting reports about how the 25-year-old protester was killed in the clashes in the city of Mus, with the Hurriyet newspaper saying he died of a gunshot wound after being caught in crossfire. But NTV television said he was killed after being struck in the head by a tear gas cannister fired by police to disperse the protesters. In Diyarbakir, Turkeys largest Kurdish city in the southeast, two people were killed and 10 others were injured after Islamist groups opened fire on demonstrators. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has so far not intervened militarily against Islamic State (IS) militants fighting for the Kurdish border town of Kobane, to the fury of Turkeys Kurds. Turkeys main pro-Kurdish party, the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), late Monday called for street protests against IS attacks and the AKPs stance on Kobane. Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has vowed that Turkey will do whatever is necessary to prevent the fall of Kobane. But Kurds bitterly accuse Ankara of merely looking on as the town risks being overrun by Islamic State militants despite dozens of Turkish tanks being deployed on the border. Almost all shops were closed in Mus, where dozens of youths set fire to bins and lit smoke bombs and firecrackers. Another person was seriously injured. Protests across Turkey In Istanbuls Gazi neighbourhood, largely populated by Kurds, police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a protest by several hundred Kurds Tuesday afternoon, an AFP correspondent reported. Elsewhere in Istanbul, one person was seriously injured in the Sarigazi district after being shot in the head from close range. In another protest Tuesday afternoon in the Kadikoy neighbourhood on the Asian side of Istanbul, human rights lawyer Tamer Dogan was badly wounded after being hit in the head by a tear gas canister fired by a policeman, the Radikal news website said. In Diyarbakir, Turkeys largest Kurdish city in the southeast, enraged youths overnight torched a police vehicle, scores of vehicles and shops and attacked government offices. Demonstrations against the advance of the Islamic State group in Turkey (AA) Clashes also took place in the Turkish capital Ankara, with several police injured in the protests. Violent protests were also reported in cities including Mersin and Adana in south Turkey. A curfew was declared in numerous districts of the southeastern city of Mardin from Tuesday evening until 8 am the Wednesday. Millions on streets Kurds have been particularly irked by the reluctance of the Turkish authorities, who are themselves worried by Kurdish separatism, to allow Kurdish fighters over the border into Syria. They repeatedly warned that the fall of Kobane could mean an end to the peace talks between Ankara and the PKK, which waged a deadly insurgency in Turkey for the last three decades but has largely observed a ceasefire since 2013. Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan said in a message relayed by his brother from his prison on the island of Imrali on the Sea of Marmara that the government had until mid-October to show it was serious about the peace process. They (the government) are talking about resolution and negotiation but there exists no such a thing. This is an artificial situation we will not be able to continue anymore, said the statement carried by the Firat news agency. The state must take action... Can a peace process make any progress in this way? Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) - considered the urban wing of the mountain-based PKK - called on millions to take to the street to protest against IS brutality. In the southeastern city of Batman, PKK supporters set fire to a dormitory and a prep school after clashing with police. In Hakkari on the border with Iraq and Iran, the youth wing of the PKK attacked a girls dormitory, ransacking its rooms and some of the offices, reports said. A curfew has been declared in two Turkish provinces, according to Hurriyet Daily News. The Turkish daily said the curfew was announced at 5pm local time (0200 GMT) in the south-east province of Mardin, near to the border with Syria and in the Ercis district of eastern province Van.
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 19:52:14 +0000
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