KurdistanObserver.com

Turkish Army Besieges Kurdish City In Northern Kurdistan

Three killed, 250 Injured In Kurdish Riots In Diyarbakir

DIYARBAKIR, (Northern Kurdistan), March 29, 2006 (AFP)  Three people were killed and 250 others injured in two days of violent clashes between Kurdish youths and police that wreaked havoc in this southeastern Turkish city, officials said Wednesday.

About 200 protestors were detained, Efkan Ala, the governor of Diyarbakir in the mainly Kurdish southeast of the country, told reporters late in the evening as the unrest abated.

Hundreds of Kurdish youths went on the rampage for a second day in Diyarbakir Wednesday, hurling petrol bombs at the police and vandalizing shops and public buildings, in what appeared to be the worst street battles in southeast Turkey for years.

The two-decade Kurdish conflict has long impeded Turkey's bid to join the European Union and continues to cast a pall on its commitment to democarcy and human rights.

The violence broke out Tuesday following the funerals of four Kurdish rebels, who were among 14 militants killed over the weekend in a military operation against the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), when angry mourners shouting "vengence" attacked the security forces.

On Wednesday, the army moved tanks to a garrison in the outskirts of Diyarbakir as the authorities called in reinforcements from neighboring regions, including paramilitary police and special commando forces.

Riot police, taking cover behind plastic shields, fired tear gas at the protestors and sprayed them with pressurized water from armored vehicles, also firing warning shots in the air.

About 600 paramilitary commandoes were deployed outside the governor's office after protestors stoned the building.

Groups of angry youths, some wearing masks, pelted the security forces with sticks and stones or petrol bombs, shouting slogans in favor of the PKK and its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The crowd burned down a bank and torched several vehicles Tuesday.

Ala identified one of the dead as a passer-by who was killed in a traffic accident while running away from the trouble, and Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir said two other victims died in hospital from firearms wounds.

Half of the injured were policemen, Ala said, adding that one person was in serious condition.

The main Kurdish party, the Democratic Society Party (DTP), urged an end to the violence, while blaming the unrest on Ankara's failure to meet Kurdish demands for greater freedoms.

"The developments... have come to a point that will seriously harm both democracy and our peoples' will to live together," Baydemir, a DTP member, said. "What has happened is the result of the failure to find a permanent and peaceful settlement to the Kurdish question."

Eager to boost its EU bid, Ankara has made a series of gestures to the Kurds, including the inauguration of Kurdish-language broadcasts and private courses teaching their tongue, but activists demand broader rights.

"No reason can justify such violence. You cannot resolve a problem by creating bigger problems," Ala said, calling on residents for restraint.

In Ankara, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu charged that the unrest was instigated by the PKK, which has stepped up violence in the southeast since calling off a five-year ceasefire in June 2004.

The foreign ministry said it was investigating whether the Denmark-based pro-PKK Roj TV, which Turkey wants banned, had a role in fanning the violence.