Turkish police clash with Kurdish demonstrators, 1 dead

Sun, 06 Dec 2009

One man was shot dead on Sunday in southeastern Turkey in clashes between Turkish police and demonstrators denouncing the prison conditions of jailed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Thousands of Kurdish protestors poured into the streets of the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir and hurled stones and fireworks at police and at the local headquarters of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling AK party.

Police responded with pepper gas to disperse the crowds. Fifteen people were also arrested in the protest, the Press TV correspondent reported.

A 23-year-old university student, identified as Aydin Erdem, was shot dead at the Dicle University campus. It was not clear who shot the student. At least one police officer was injured in the clashes.

Demonstrations also took place in the neighboring cities of Siirt, Mardin, Batman, and Hakkari.

Tensions have risen over the past few days in southeastern Turkey as the Democratic Society Party (DTP) prepares for a hearing on December 8 in a Constitutional Court case that could deliver a verdict banning the party.

The case could reignite ethnic tension in the region where 40,000 people have died in violence since 1984, when the PKK took up arms to carve out a Kurdish ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey.