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Six killed as riots, violence flare in
Turkey's Kurdish regions
16.11.2005
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DIYARBAKIR,
Kurdistan-Turkey, Nov 15 (AFP) - 20h09 - Three
people were killed and at least 16 injured in
Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast Tuesday as clashes
broke out between Kurdish protestors and the
security forces, officials said.
Three soldiers, meanwhile, perished in a land mine
explosion blamed on Kurdish rebels.
The unrest in Yuksekova town, in the province of
Hakkari, underscored escalating tension in the
region over a deadly bomb attack in nearby Semdinli
last week, which is widely blamed on members of the
security forces.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose
government is under strong public pressure to shed
light on the bombing, urged calm and renewed pledges
that those responsible would be punished.
Yuksekova Mayor Salih Yildiz told AFP that three
people were killed and many others were injured in
the unrest, but could not give further details.
At least eight protestors, seven policemen and a
soldier were injured, some of them seriously,
Anatolia news agency reported.
The security forces used tear gas and fired in the
air after a crowd protesting the Semdinli bombing
refused to disperse and began pelting them with
stones, it said.
The protestors set ablaze a medical center and
erected barricades in the streets, witnesses said.
Two armored vehicles were reportedly overturned.
The security forces also raided a house and rescued
a soldier who was kidnapped while passing through
the town center on his way home, Anatolia said.
The November 9 bombing of a bookstore in Semdinli
owned by a former Kurdish guerrilla killed one
person, and a second man was shot dead in riots that
followed the attack, sparking almost daily protests
and clashes in the restive southeast.
"I invite our brothers in both Semdinli and
Yuksekova to be calm and prudent," Erdogan said in
Ankara. "We will follow up on this incident, no
matter where it leads, and whoever has to pay the
price will pay it."
Erdogan said, however, it was too early to conclude
the investigation, charging that certain groups were
fueling the violence in the southeast.
The ruling Justice and Development Party called for
a parliamentary inquiry into the incident, saying
the bombing might have been a plot to undermine
government efforts to expand freedoms and boost
Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
"The incident -- in terms of the way it developed,
the people who were allegedly involved and the
weapons and materials found at the site -- is grave
and thought-provoking," the party said.
An angry crowd tried to lynch three suspects after
the bombing.
One of them, who allegedly hurled the bomb and was
later arrested, turned out to be a former Kurdish
guerilla working as an informer for military police.
The two others -- both police officers -- were set
free, while a third soldier, accused of firing at
the crowd, was also arrested.
Weapons and documents, including a map of Semdinli,
a sketch of the bookstore and a list of people,
including the bookstore owner, were reportedly found
in a car outside the bookstore.
Three soldiers were also killed Tuesday when a land
mine planted on a rural road in Van province, which
borders Hakkari, was detonated by remote control,
local officials said.
Security forces launched an a search for the
perpetrators, believed to be members of the rebel
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Tensions have mounted in Turkey's Kurdish-populated
regions since the PKK called off a five-year
unilateral truce in June 2004, shattering a period
of relative calm.
The Kurdish conflict has claimed some 37,000 lives
since 1984 when the PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist
organization by Turkey, the European Union and the
United States, took up arms for Kurdish self-rule.
AFP
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