Police have detained two army conscripts after they took at least two people hostage in a fast food outlet in protest at the treatment of soldiers in southeast Turkey. The gunmen, in their early 20s, were detained on the roof terrace of the Burger King restaurant in central Istanbul after one of them fired his pistol into the air, said a Reuters reporter at Taksim square, which had been surrounded by police. Celalettin Cerrah, Istanbul's chief of police, said the two men, who had gone without leave of absence from the army in Egirdir, had taken several people hostage but none had been harmed. Cerrah said: "They said they were carrying out this act to protest at the incidents in the southeast in recent days."Clashes between the security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have escalated in recent weeks. A rebel group linked to the PKK has also claimed responsibility for a series of bombings in recent days. A man, who gave his name only as Cengiz, said as he carved a kebab at one of the food restaurants on Taksim square: "It seems they were very upset by what has happened in the southeast. They shouted that nothing was being done to protect the martyred soldiers."
Dozens of police flanked the mini-van which took away the two men, wearing red and white T-shirts with the word "Turkey" on them, with locals booing them as they left.