A person holds a flag as police uses tear gas and water cannon on October 7, 2014 in Ankara against demonstrators who protest against attacks launched by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) insurgents targeting the Syrian city of Kobane and lack of action by the government. (Photo: AFP - Adem Altan)
Published Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Updated at 2:10 pm (GMT +3): Turkish police clashed with thousands of pro-Kurdish demonstrators across the country on Tuesday, as the protesters denounced Turkey's inaction in the fight against jihadists on the Syrian border, leaving at least 16 dead and 36 wounded.
Eight people were killed in Diyarbakir, the largest town in Turkey's majority-Kurdish southeast region, according to press reports.
Several other deaths were recorded in other southeastern towns, including an estimated three killed in Mardin, two in Siirt, one in Batman and another in Mus, while police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protests in Istanbul and Ankara.
Thousands of people had joined the demonstrations called by the main pro-Kurdish party, the People's Democratic Party (HDP), against Ankara's failure so far to intervene militarily against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) jihadists fighting for the Syrian border town of Kobane.
"I call on Turkish citizens for common sense and calm," Republican People's Party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said, speaking to reporters at Izmir Airport on Wednesday.
Similarly, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmas said Wednesday that the protests are "unreasonable" and "an invitation for terrorism and violence in Turkey."
In remarks to press during an official visit in Macedonia, Kurtulmus said "Nobody has the right to disturb the peace and stability in Turkey using developments in a foreign territory as a pretext."
The protests, which started Monday evening, were in support of the presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in the Syrian town of Kobani.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has vowed that Turkey will do whatever necessary to prevent the fall of Kobane, also known as Ain al-Arab.
But Kurds bitterly accuse Ankara of merely looking on as the town risks being overrun by jihadists despite dozens of Turkish tanks being deployed on the border.
”Violence will be met with violence”
Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala accused the pro-Kurdish protesters of "betraying their own country" and warned them to disperse or face "unpredictable" consequences.
"Violence will be met with violence... This irrational attitude should immediately be abandoned and (the protesters) should withdraw from the streets," Ala told reporters in Ankara.
In Mus, a 25-year-old protester was killed after being struck in the head by a tear gas canister fired by police to disperse the protesters.
In Diyarbakir, five were killed by gunshots in clashes between pro-Kurdish activists and Islamists.
Youths in the southeastern town had overnight torched a police vehicle, scores of other vehicles and shops and attacked government offices.
In Istanbul's Gazi neighborhood, largely populated by Kurds, police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse a protest by several hundred Kurds, an AFP correspondent said.
Elsewhere in Istanbul, one person was seriously injured after being shot in the head from close range.
Local authorities ordered a curfew in several Kurdish-majority provinces including Diyarbakir, Mardin, Siirt and Van.
In a measure unprecedented in the last years, the Turkish army has deployed in the streets of the cities of Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van to impose a curfew.
Schools were closed in Diyarbakir and fights were cancelled, reports said. The protests had first broken out on Monday night but Tuesday's clashes were more severe.
Kurds have been particularly irked by the reluctance of Turkish authorities, who are concerned by Kurdish separatism, to allow Kurds over the border to fight ISIS.
They have warned that the fall of Kobane could mean an end to the peace talks between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which waged a deadly insurgency in Turkey for the last three decades but has largely observed a ceasefire since last year.
Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan said in a message relayed by his brother 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 is no such thing," he said.
"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 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 what it termed "IS brutality," using an alternative acronym to refer to ISIS.
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Kurds hold protests all over Europe
“We came here to make ourselves [heard] to the whole world because nobody is listening to us,” a demonstrator told reporters.
“No one is opening their eyes to what is happening in Kobane. Innocent people, women, children are getting killed for no reason,” said another demonstrator.
Thousands of people also gathered on the streets of London in a show of solidarity with the Syrian Kurds of Kobane.
The protesters chanted “Shame on you, Turkey” and accused Turkey of failing to drive back the ISIL Takfiri militants.
Moreover, Kurdish demonstrators organized an anti-ISIL protest in Berlin and held protests in several other German cities.
And scores of protesters gathered outside the France’s Foreign Ministry building, and called for solidarity with the Kurdish resistance.
On Monday, Kurdish protesters occupied the Dutch national parliament building in The Hague.
The ISIL terror group launched its assault on Kobane three weeks ago, forcing 200,000 mainly Kurdish refugees to flee into neighboring Turkey.
According to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 412 people, more than half of them militants, have been killed in and around Kobane since the start of ISIL assault in mid-September.
The ISIL Takfiris have committed widespread acts of violence, including mass executions, abductions, torture and forcing women into slavery in the areas they have seized in Iraq and Syria.
SRK/MHB/AS
Kurds hold protests all over Europe
Kurdish protesters gather in front of the entrance of the European Parliament in Brussels, on October 7, 2014
Kurdish community members have held protests in several European cities over the Turkish government’s inaction against ISIL Takfiri militants.
Around 150 Kurdish protesters stormed the European Parliament headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday to criticize Ankara’s inaction to protect the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane against the ISIL attacks.“We came here to make ourselves [heard] to the whole world because nobody is listening to us,” a demonstrator told reporters.
“No one is opening their eyes to what is happening in Kobane. Innocent people, women, children are getting killed for no reason,” said another demonstrator.
Thousands of people also gathered on the streets of London in a show of solidarity with the Syrian Kurds of Kobane.
The protesters chanted “Shame on you, Turkey” and accused Turkey of failing to drive back the ISIL Takfiri militants.
Moreover, Kurdish demonstrators organized an anti-ISIL protest in Berlin and held protests in several other German cities.
And scores of protesters gathered outside the France’s Foreign Ministry building, and called for solidarity with the Kurdish resistance.
On Monday, Kurdish protesters occupied the Dutch national parliament building in The Hague.
The ISIL terror group launched its assault on Kobane three weeks ago, forcing 200,000 mainly Kurdish refugees to flee into neighboring Turkey.
According to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 412 people, more than half of them militants, have been killed in and around Kobane since the start of ISIL assault in mid-September.
The ISIL Takfiris have committed widespread acts of violence, including mass executions, abductions, torture and forcing women into slavery in the areas they have seized in Iraq and Syria.
SRK/MHB/AS
14 Killed in Pro-Kurdish Protests in Turkey
At least 14 people were killed in violent protests by pro-Kurdish demonstrators in southeast Turkey angry at the government's lack of action against Takfiri militants operating in Syria, officials said Wednesday.
Eight of the deaths came in Turkey's main Kurdish city of Diyarbakir where the most intense rioting took place overnight Tuesday to Wednesday, a local security official told AFP.
The clashes with police caused extensive damage in the city with shop fronts burned-out and buses set on fire.
The other deaths were reported in violent protests in Mardin, Siirt, Batman and Mus, all cities in the southeast of Turkey.
In a measure unprecedented in the last years, the Turkish army has deployed in the streets of the cities of Diyarbakir, Mardin and Van to impose a curfew.
Schools were closed in Diyarbakir and fights were cancelled, reports said. The protests had first broken out on Monday night but Tuesday's clashes were more severe.
Police also used tear gas and water cannon to disperse angry pro-Kurdish protests in Istanbul and Ankara.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has so far not intervened militarily against ISIL group which has been fighting for the majority-Kurdish border town of Kobani, to the fury of Turkey's Kurds.
Source: AFP
| 08-10-2014 - 12:56 Last updated 08-10-2014 - 12:56 |
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