Protesters Killed in Clashes with Police across Turkey over Government’s “Inaction” Vs. ISIL

At least nine people were killed in demonstrations across Turkey after Kurds demanded the government to do more to protect the Syrian-Kurdish town of Kobane from attacks against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters, local media reported.

On Tuesday, police shoots tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters. Reports said during the protest, activists burnt cars and tires as they took to the streets mainly in Turkey’s eastern and southeastern provinces that is predominantly Kurdish.

Istanbul Governorship said in a news release early on Wednesday that clashes also erupted in the capital Ankara and in the country’s biggest city, Istanbul, where almost 100 people were detained and 30 people were injured, including eight police officers.

Five people were killed in Diyarbakir, the largest Kurdish city in the southeast, which saw clashes between protesters and police, report said. According to media reports, two people died in southeastern Siirt province and another died in neighbouring Batman, while a 25-year-old man died in Varto, a town in the eastern province of Mus. It added and at least half a dozen people were wounded there in clashes between police and protesters.

Authorities announced a curfew in Kurdish populated districts in Diyarbakir, Siirt and in the town of Van, where thousands of protesters rallied against ISIL’s advance on Kobane.

Last Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised in a speech that Turkey would fight ISIL and “other terrorist organisations”. The president’s promise came a day before the Turkish Parliament granted the government authority to send forces into both Syria and Iraq.

Source: Al Jazeera

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