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(Turkish Daily News Via
Thomson Dialog News Edge) Conflicting numbers of
casualties were reported regarding clashes between
Iranian police and supporters of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who held a series of
demonstrations in the provinces of Kurdistan and
West Azerbaijan last Friday in order to protest PKK
leader Abdullah Ocalan's imprisonment on the
anniversary of his capture seven years ago.
The governor of a Kurdish town in western Iran told
the Associated Press yesterday that peace had
returned to his constituency, two days after two
demonstrators were killed during a demonstration
marking the anniversary of the capture of Ocalan.
Alireza Radfar, governor of Maku, said police
clashed on Friday with rock-throwing demonstrators
who tried to storm government buildings in Bazargan
and Yolaglas districts.
"Some 10 demonstrators were shot, including two who
were killed," he said, noting that the demonstrators
launched attacks during a gathering
Maku, some 900 kilometers northwest of Tehran, has a
predominantly ethnic Kurdish population of more than
150,000.
Kurdish areas in Iran have occasionally witnessed
unrest against the ruling Islamic establishment.
Last year, the unrest rocked several Kurdish towns
in northwestern Iran (Kurdistan-Iran). Clashes with
police and arrests led to more protests.
Ocalan was captured in Kenya after he was forced to
leave a Greek diplomatic mission there in 1999. He
was then sentenced to death for leading the PKK but
his sentence was later commuted to life in prison,
which he is serving as the sole inmate on a prison
island near Istanbul.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by
Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
An Internet news site, Iran Focus, reported that a
least five people were killed and dozens injured or
arrested in the course of clashes.
Iranian Kurds staged several rallies in various
towns and cities in the northwestern regions of Iran
on Thursday and Friday, the report said. There were
street clashes between anti-government protesters
and security forces in the towns of Maku, Bazargan
and Sardasht, the report added.
Another Internet news site that is close to the PKK
reported that at least eight people were killed, 25
injured and 400 arrested.
Turkey has in the past accused Iran of fueling
radical Islam in Turkey and sheltering Islamic
extremists. But Ankara has similar concerns with
Tehran in regards to mutual neighbor Iraq and the
threat posed by the PKK, which is carrying out
attacks on Turkish soil.
www.tmcnet.com
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