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Kurdish protesters attack police in Turkey
28.3.2006
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Amed, Diyarbakir,
- Kurdish protesters hurled firebombs at armored
police vehicles in southeastern Turkey
(Turkey-Kurdistan) Tuesday after a funeral for some
of the 14 Kurdish guerrillas killed by troops last
week.
Police launched tear gas canisters at the crowd of
hundreds in return, triggering street clashes which
left at least five people injured and several
businesses and vehicles damaged in Diyarbakir, the
largest city in the Kurdish-dominated southeast,
images broadcast by private NTV television showed.
The clashes erupted after protesters chanted
pro-Kurdish guerrilla slogans and attacked the
police after the funeral of four of the dead
guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK,
which has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern
Turkey (Turkey-Kurdistan) since 1984.
NTV footage showed at least one armored police
vehicle engulfed in flames after being hit by a
firebomb in Diyarbakir. The operator of the vehicle
immediately turned on the vehicle's pressurized
water canon in an attempt to extinguish the fire.
Further west in Adana, some 3,000 Kurdish protesters
attending the funeral of another killed guerrilla
clashed with police, prompting the police to detain
dozens.
Turkish troops had killed 14 Kurdish guerrillas in
the province of Mus in a two-day clash that ended on
Saturday.
Tensions have been running high in the
Kurdish-dominated southeast, where autonomy-seeking
Kurdish guerrillas have escalated attacks recently.
The fight for autonomy has claimed the lives of more
than 37,000 people. The PKK is considered a
terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States
and the European Union, reports the AP.
AP
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