*US leftist Noam Chomsky calls for autonomous Kurdistan 

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Feb 14 (AFP) - US leftist Noam Chomsky said Wednesday he hoped for the creation of an autonomous Kurdistan in the Middle East, uniting millions of Kurds dispersed throughout several countries.
The academic, a linguist, said he hoped one day to see the existence of an independent Kurdistan, providing millions of Kurds with a homeland.

Chomsky was speaking at a symposium of non-governmental organisations in Diyarbakir, the main town in Kurdish-populated southeastern Turkey.

Chomsky also met representatives of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HADEP), which risks being banned by Ankara for its links with the Kudish People's Party (PKK).

Chomsky said the inhabitants of an autonomous Kurdistan would be both politically and culturally independent.

Around 20 million Kurds live in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, 12 million of them in Turkey.

Chomsky called for the Kurdish language to be taught in schools, saying he had respect for the language and for those who wanted to be taught their mother tongue.
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Five injured in pro-Ocalan demonstration in Turkey 

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Feb 14 (AFP)  Five people were injured in southeastern Turkey Thursday as police broke up a demonstration denouncing the capture of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan three years ago, the Anatolia news agency reported.
A group of demonstrators lit a fire in Siirt city to protest the event, and defied police orders to disperse, Anatolia said.

Security forces moved into the group saying the demonstration was illegal, leaving five people injured, the agency said, without giving further details.

Several other demonstrators were taken into police custody.

Small groups of people also lit fires and shouted pro-Kurdish slogans in the streets of Diyarbakir, the center of the mainly Kurdish southeast, but police did not intervene, an AFP correspondent said.