TURKEY: Kurdish protesters clash with police in south-eastern Turkey

Water cannon, tear gas and batons used against PKK supporters protesting a court case against a pro-Kurdish political party. Thousands of supporters of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) gathered at a rally in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, on Sunday (November 25), to protest at a court case to consider a request from state prosecutors to shut down the party. The DTP has been accused by Ankara of colluding with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels. Thousands of people took part in the rally, chanting pro-PKK slogans and carrying pictures of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. The newly elected leader of the DTP, Nurettin Demirtas, attended the rally. DTP Member of Parliament Selahattin Demirtas said the rally was saying enough is enough. Turkish riot police, wearing bullet-proof vests and carrying batons, clashed with protesters as they tried to make arrests at the rally. Demonstrators threw stones at police and armoured vans which tried to disperse the crowd with water cannon and tear gas. Ten demonstrators were detained by police. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling centre-right AK Party have said they are not in favour of closing down political parties, a step which would run against the spirit of liberal reforms linked to Ankara's EU membership drive. Turkish courts have shut down several predecessors of the DTP over the past two decades for allegedly supporting terrorism and endangering national unity and security. The DTP, which has 20 members of parliament, backs more cultural and political rights for Turkey's large ethnic Kurdish population but is viewed by many Turks as a mouthpiece for the PKK, a charge it denies. However, it has come under fire for refusing to brand the PKK as a terrorist group and for voicing sympathy for the party.

ITN Source | November 26, 2007

Tags:. .democratic. .ten. .gas. .arrests. .ruling