Death toll in Turkey protests rises to 18 as fate of Syrian town stirs up tensions

Kurdish

Deaths of four more people in pro-Kurdish protests across Turkey raise death toll as anger over ISIL siege of Kobani intensifies

Four more people have died during nationwide pro-Kurdish protests in Turkey, bringing to the death toll to 18.

Three people died in demonstrations held in Turkey’s southeastern Mardin and another in eastern province of Van province Wednesday, an Anadolu Agency correspondent reported.

One of the dead, Kerem Karaaslan, was killed in a dispute with a group of armed protesters who were seeking to close a highway in the Dargecit district of Mardin.

No details have been obtained about the identity of the other deceased.

The nationwide protests broke out after Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants penetrated the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, known as Ayn al-Arab, on Monday.

Clashes also took place in capital Ankara and Istanbul, where dozens of protesters and several police officers were wounded and hundreds of protesters detained.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was chairing Wednesday a security meeting with deputy prime ministers, ministers of the interior, defense, foreign affairs as well as with head of the military and police chief.

Fierce battles

The protesters claimed the Turkish government had done nothing to halt the relentless advance of the militant group in Kobani, which has become a scene of fierce streets battles between Kurdish groups and ISIL militants.

Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse pro-Kurdish protesters across the country who had set up barricades, set fire to buses and cars and attacked police with fireworks and stones.

A total of 10 people have been killed in Diyarbakir, the largest Kurdish majority province, three in Mardin, two in eastern Siirt province and one each in eastern Mus, Van and Batman provinces.

Early on Wednesday, a 22-year-old man, Emrah Demir, was critically injured in a clash between supporters of the outlawed group Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and police in the southeastern city of Batman. He later died in hospital.

In Istanbul’s Okmeydani district, two journalists working for The Anadolu Agency were injured while covering the protests.

Turkish officials have condemned the clashes.

Schools closed

Interior Minister Efkan Ala said: “Violence will not solve anything.

“Such senseless attitudes should come to an urgent stop.”

Many cars, buses, bank branches, offices and political party buildings were damaged in several Turkish cities.

Primary and secondary schools in Diyarbakir and Van University were also closed for a day while Hakkari University was shut for three days.

The violence erupted after more than a week of tensions caused by ISIL militants’ siege of the northern Syrian city of Kobani.

Kurdish fighters, grouped into “People’s Protection Units” have been holding back ISIL forces which have surrounded the city.

Turkish officials have said the country is against supporting armed PKK-offshoots in Kobani with military and financial aid, even if they are fighting against ISIL.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey as well as by the U.S. and the European Union.

 

Death toll in Turkey protests rises to 18 as fate of Syrian town stirs up tensions