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Turkish prosecutors probe politicians in
Kurdish southeast
31.3.2006
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DIYARBAKIR,
Kurdistan-Turkey, March 30, 2006 (AFP) - 17h43 -
Prosecutors in the southeastern Turkish city of
Diyarbakir have opened an inquiry into allegations
that pro-Kurdish politicians there have backed the
Kurdish insurrection, a legal source said Thursday.
Those being investigated include Osman Baydemir, the
mayor of the city and a member of the main
pro-Kurdish organisation, the Party for a Democratic
Society (DTP), who earlier this week told young
rioters he respected their "courage" but asked them
to stop defying the law.
Two provincial leaders Ahmet Cengiz and Murat Avci
are also being investigated.
Diyarbakir, the capital of the Kurdish-dominated
southeast with some 550,000 people, is facing the
worst street violence in years, which has seen
clashes between supporters of the separatist
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkish security
forces.
The violence erupted after several thousand
demonstrators confronted police following the
funerals of four of 14 PKK rebels killed in clashes
with the military Saturday.
Three people were killed and more than 250 injured
in violence Monday and Tuesday. On Thursday hospital
sources said two people, one of them a boy, were
seriously hurt in new incidents.
Kurdish politicians have blamed the riots on
Ankara's failure to meet their demands for greater
freedoms.
Keen to boost its bid to join the European Union,
Ankara has made a series of gestures to its ethinic
Kurdish population, including allowing
Kurdish-language broadcasts and private language
courses, but activists want broader rights.
The conflict has claimed some 37,000 lives since the
PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Ankara, the
European Union and the United States, took up arms
for Kurdish self-rule in the southeast in 1984.
AFP
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