DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Feb 18 (AFP)  A human rights group which is often accused of links with Kurdish rebels said on Monday Turkish school inspectors in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir had questioned several children over a drawing and writing competition the group had organised.

"The investigation was opened in the beginning of February and it is still going on," Muharrem Erbey from the Diyarbakir branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD) told AFP

The contest, in which some 300 children aged between seven and 14 submitted drawings and compositions to mark a human rights week in December, had only come under scrutiny because it was organised by the IHD, Erbey explained.

Twenty children and about 40 teachers were asked by education ministry inspectors why they took part in the IHD contest and not a similar one organised by the governor's office, he said.

Local education officials declined to comment on the issue.

"The children's psychology was very badly affected. They were forced to wait in line in the corridors (of the education office) and then asked questions as if they had committed a crime by drawing pictures and writing innocent compositions," Erbey said.

The IHD had permission from the governor to organise the event and the local authorities had also allowed the group to use billboards in the city to invite participants, he explained.

The authorities have long accused the IHD of being associated to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a 15-year war for self-rule in southeast Turkey, and have often persecuted its members.

Turkey sees the PKK as a "terrorist" organisation and clamps down on individuals or groups that are thought to have links with the rebels.

The probe in Diyarbakir coincides with government accusations that the PKK masterminded a campaign of "civil disobedience" which saw thousands of Kurdish students across the country submit petitions requesting courses in Kurdish language, which are banned in Turkey.

Turkey is regularly condemned by European rights groups for human rights abuses and its harsh treatment of the Kurdish minority and these concerns continue to prevent it joining the European Union.