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ANKARA, Sept 17 (AFP) - 21h05 - A provincial
official of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party was
arrested Saturday over his alleged role in a violent
demonstration in favor of Kurdish rebel leader
Abdullah Ocalan earlier this month, Anatolia news
agency reported.
Abdurrahman Dogar, regional chairman of the People's
Democratic Party (DEHAP) in the eastern province of
Van, was accused of "spreading propaganda in favor
of an illegal organization" and "inciting people to
violence," Anatolia said.
The prosecution is expected to issue a detailed
indictement later.
Ten people, among them three policemen, were
injured, and 80 people detained when Kurdish
protestors, many of them DEHAP activists, clashed
with the police in Van on September 5 in a pro-Ocalan
demonstration.
The protestors hurled stones and incendiary devices
at the security forces, who responded with tear gas
and fired warning shots into the air.
Ocalan, jailed since 1999, is the head of the rebel
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), considered a
terrorist group by Turkey as well as the European
Union and the United States.
The clashes in Van flared as part of unrest across
the country after Turkish nationalists attacked
buses carrying Kurdish activists travelling through
Bozuyuk in the northwest after being prevented from
holding a massive pro-Ocalan rally in a nearby town.
Tensions in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish east and
southeast have markedly increased since the PKK
called off a five-year unilateral truce in June
2004.
Last month, the group declared a one-month ceasefire
until September 20, but the army brushed aside the
move and clashes in the region continue.
AFP
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