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| Europe |
| In Turkey, PKK demonstrations turn violent |
| 2009-12-01 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] Turkish police clash with demonstrators attending rallies to mark the establishment of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The clashes erupted after approximately 300 demonstrators attacked a police station in Mersin, on the Mediterranean coast, with stones and Molotov cocktails, Turkey's Daily News reported Monday. Protesters have also set shops afire in the town after police shot a 16-year-old in the chest, according to the report. Police also broke up a demonstration by young Kurds in central Istanbul, while violence flared in other Turkish towns with large Kurdish populations, the Daily News report added. Demonstrations in Istanbul turned violent, with protestors setting a bus alight in the Sultanbeyli district. The PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist organization by the international community, has sparked conflicts that have claimed about 40,000 lives in Turkey. Ankara recently announced measures to improve Kurdish minority rights in a bid to end 25 years of armed conflict. Since August, Ankara has sought to build support for its initiative which is expected to give wider rights to the country's estimated 12 million Kurds and thus persuade the PKK into laying down arms. |
| Posted by:Fred |