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Kurdish protests spark clashes

Hundreds of Kurdish protesters armed with stones battled police for a fourth day in southeastern Turkey yesterday, authorities and news reports said.

Clashes during celebrations of the Kurdish spring festival of Noruz have killed one Kurdish protester and injured dozens of people.

Police broke up a crowd of stone-throwing protesters in the town of Yuksekova in Hakkari Province yesterday, firing into the air and using tear gas and truncheons, private Dogan news agency said.

The crowd, mostly members of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society party which faces closure on charges of ties to Kurdish rebels, was protesting the killing of a Kurdish man in the eastern city of Van.

The man died at a hospital early yesterday after being shot during clashes with police on Saturday, local authorities said.

Also yesterday, thousands of Kurds gathered in Istanbul to celebrate the Noruz festival.

Meanwhile, a policeman and two other protesters remain hospitalized in serious condition after police detained 130 people in Van after Kurdish men hurled rocks at riot police on Saturday.

The police protected themselves with plastic shields, television film from the Cihan news agency showed.

Police later fired tear gas to disperse the crowd and beat some of the protesters with truncheons, the Cihan footage showed.

Several women in traditional Kurdish outfits were sitting on a sidewalk, encircled by police officers. An officer kicked one of the women, the film showed.

Mehmet Salih Kesmez, the police chief of Van Province near the border with Iran, said 38 protesters and 15 police officers were injured.

Protesters had gathered early on Saturday in the city of Van to celebrate the Noruz festival. The group soon started chanting slogans supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), police said.

The PKK has waged a guerrilla war against the government for Kurdish autonomy since 1984.

Riot police intervened, ordering the group to end the celebration, but the group continued chanting slogans, police said.

"We warned those people who chanted slogans for the terrorist organization," Kesmez said.

He said the police moved in after protesters refused to disperse and threw stones at officers.

The PKK wants political and cultural autonomy for Kurds in southeastern Turkey. Some Kurds use the festival to highlight their demand for autonomy.

Skirmishes broke out during similar celebrations across Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeastern region on Friday.

Noruz is traditionally celebrated on March 21.
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