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Turkey-Kurdistan VAN Running battles between
Kurdish civilians and police have resulted in at
least one death in the eastern Turkish city of
Van...
Violence erupted in Van's Bostanci region on Tuesday
when thousands of Kurds gathered to mark the funeral
of two PKK (Kurdistan Worker's Party) guerrillas.
Police set up barricades in front and behind
mourners of Cevher Žinas and Mehmet Bozan, trapping
them.
The Kurds, angry at their treatment, responded by
throwing stones.
Police fired a series of warning shots into the air,
and then fired into the crowd.
One protester, Fahrettin Inan, 25, was shot several
times and died at the scene. Nine other mourners
were wounded.
On Wednesday, crowds returned to the streets to
accompany Inan's funeral car to nearby
Bostanici-Fahrettin.
Again they were met by Turkish police and soldiers
on their arrival at the town's graveyard, sparking
further violence.
Turkish officials attempted to stop Kurdish
protesters from displaying the Kurdish national flag
and photographs of dead PKK guerrillas.
The Turkish Government has been locked in conflict
with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) since it
turned to terrorism in 1984, demanding recognition
for Kurds, their culture and their human rights in
Turkey.
Over 30,000 people, mainly Kurds, have died in armed
battles with the Turks over land both sides lay
claim to.
Recently the conflict has been more political than
military, but in the 1980s and 1990s large areas of
eastern Turkey were depopulated by the Turkish Army
to discourage support for Kurdish separatists, who
in turn killed Kurds who they accused of helping the
Turkish state.
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