Kurds stage protests in Turkey
ANKARA. February 15. KAZINFORM The private Haber Turk news channel says at least 100 pro-Kurdish demonstrators are staging protests on the eve of the anniversary of the capture of rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan. Haber Turk says demonstrators in the mainly Kurdish town of Yuksekova near the border with Iraq hurled stones and fire-bombs at police Sunday, Kazinform refers to Arab News.
The agency says police retaliated with pepper gas and water cannons.
Turkish police had arrested some 86 Kurdish politicians and activists ahead of the 11th anniversary of the capture of Ocalan, activists said Sunday.
The arrested individuals included representatives of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), the successor to the recently banned Democratic Society Party (DTP).
The arrested were accused of having links to the PKK. The PKK has been fighting for independence, or more autonomy, for the Kurdish part of Turkey since the 1980s. The group is officially considered by the United States and European Union as a terrorist organization, Kazinform cites Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version.