.Turkey: Kurdish protesters clash with police
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Police clashed with stone-throwing demonstrators across the country's predominantly Kurdish southeast Sunday during protests marking the 10th anniversary of a separatist rebel leader's capture.
In Diyarbakir, the region's largest city, about 1,500 people gathered in the streets to throw rocks at large military vehicles that were shooting water cannons and tear gas at them. One of the vehicles was seen retreating down a street as the demonstrators attacked it.
Heavily armed riot police, supported by a helicopter overhead, beat several protesters with truncheons, including one man who was lying on a street. Police said they detained about 50 protesters and that around 20 people, including police officers, were injured in the rock-strewn streets of Diyarbakir.
Fighting also broke out in Istanbul, where young boys - some wearing face masks - threw rocks at heavily armed police during another protest against the continued imprisonment of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
The PKK has fought for autonomy in the region since 1984 and thousands of people have been killed. The United States and the European Union regard the PKK as a terrorist group.
Ocalan was captured in Kenya in 1999 and returned to Turkey where he was sentenced to death for treason. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison. He is the sole inmate of an island prison off Istanbul. His supporters have expressed concern about his health and want an end to his solitary confinement.
Turkey's Kurdish minority is estimated at around 14 million.
Ocalan's rebels often stage hit-and-run attacks from bases in neighboring northern Iraq. The Turkish military frequently has attacked suspected rebels bases with air force jets.
MyWay
I wonder what the Obama administrations Turkey policy is, have they said, has anyone asked?
In Diyarbakir, the region's largest city, about 1,500 people gathered in the streets to throw rocks at large military vehicles that were shooting water cannons and tear gas at them. One of the vehicles was seen retreating down a street as the demonstrators attacked it.
Heavily armed riot police, supported by a helicopter overhead, beat several protesters with truncheons, including one man who was lying on a street. Police said they detained about 50 protesters and that around 20 people, including police officers, were injured in the rock-strewn streets of Diyarbakir.
Fighting also broke out in Istanbul, where young boys - some wearing face masks - threw rocks at heavily armed police during another protest against the continued imprisonment of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
The PKK has fought for autonomy in the region since 1984 and thousands of people have been killed. The United States and the European Union regard the PKK as a terrorist group.
Ocalan was captured in Kenya in 1999 and returned to Turkey where he was sentenced to death for treason. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison. He is the sole inmate of an island prison off Istanbul. His supporters have expressed concern about his health and want an end to his solitary confinement.
Turkey's Kurdish minority is estimated at around 14 million.
Ocalan's rebels often stage hit-and-run attacks from bases in neighboring northern Iraq. The Turkish military frequently has attacked suspected rebels bases with air force jets.
MyWay
I wonder what the Obama administrations Turkey policy is, have they said, has anyone asked?
posted by madtom at 3:27 PM
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