Asia

Asia

Death toll reaches 32 in Turkey protest clashes

11 October 2014 00:27 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. At least 32 people have been killed and hundreds of others wounded in “illegal” street demonstrations held by pro-Kurdish protesters across Turkey, the interior ministry said Friday, APA reports quoting AA.

The protesters claim the Turkish government was doing nothing to halt the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or the ISIL, in the Syrian town of Kobani on the Turkish border.

Most casualties occurred in clashes between supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, and members of the Islamist Kurdish political party, Free Cause Party or the HUDA-PAR that raised the voice against aggression of Kurdish protesters.

The protesters began to take to the streets after a call was issued by the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party, or the HDP, when the situation in Kobani, known also as Ayn al-Arab, turned critical.

The death toll in the nationwide “illegal” protests reached 32 Friday when a protester succumbed to his injuries inflicted during a demonstration in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir.

Murat Dag, 24, passed away at the hospital, where he was brought in for treatment following a clash between two group of protesters in Baglar district of the province, health officials said Friday.

Last Tuesday, four people, believed to be Free Cause Party supporters, had attacked a village union Koy-Der with guns in Diyarbakir instigated street clashes between the two groups.

Out of the 32 people who died across the country, 12 fatalities were in Diyarbakir, six in Mardin, five in Siirt, four in Gaziantep and one dead each in Batman, Mus, Van, Adana and Istanbul provinces.

Besir Atalay, the spokesman for Turkey's ruling AK Party, told reporters on Friday that just one man was killed by police shooting while dispersing the protesters who hurled fireworks and stones at the police. He did not reveal much detail about the dead protester.

Last Thursday, Kurdish People's Democratic Party leader Selahattin Demirtas had called on the Turkish government to answer the call for help by the Kurdish groups that were fighting the ISIL militants inKobani.

However, Turkish officials said the country was against supporting the Democratic Union Party, or the PYD, since it considers the group to be a Syrian offshoot of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK.

- Malicious attack

Meanwhile, terrorists attacked four policemen including a police chief in eastern Bingol province Thursday evening, killing two of them.

Deputy Police Chief Atif Sahin and Chief Inspector Huseyin Hatipoglu died in the attack, while Bingol Police Chief Atalay Urker and officer Ugur Adli were seriously wounded.

Five terrorists said to be perpetrators of the attack were also shot dead in a gun battle close to Genc district, Bingol Governorate said in a statement.

- Toll of detention and arrest

Over a thousand people were taken into custody for questioning and 58 others were arrested during the nationwide unrest over the past week, Interior Minister Efkan Ala said Friday.

The minister also said a total of 1,113 buildings were damaged during the demonstration, including over 200 schools, 67 police, 25 government, 29 political party and 780 municipal buildings. The Turkish Red Crescent blood centers were also not spared.