Northern Kurdistan- Hakkari: The police attacked a demonstration of 10 thousand people in Hakkari organised to protest against the assault of Ahmet Turk, ex-chair of the recently closed DTP. The skirmishes are still ongoing in Hakkari as well as the nearby town of Yuksekova.
The demonstration was organised to protest against the assault of the former DTP leader Ahmet Turk in Hakkari yesterday. 10 thousand people gathered outside the BDP building and marched towards the Town Hall. The crowds carried placards that said “We condemn the hands that assault our General Leader”, “Hakkari will be a graveyard for fascism”, “We do not want Turkish Republic identity”, “Down with racist fascism”, “this attack will not go ‘non-responded’”, and shouted the slogans “We condemn the hands that assault Ahmet Turk”, “Long live leader Apo”.
MEYA-DER (Organisation working for the relatives of those killed or disappeared by the State) Hakkari Branch Chair Mikail Atan read out a statement and explained that an assault has taken place against Ahmet Turk. Explaining that the Trabzon-Samsun line – which was exposed with the murder of Hrant Dink – still has not had any precautionary measures taken against it to ensure such incidents happening again; adding that “holders of the war (warlords) are scared of our community’s demands for peace and resorted to provocation. Calling all our people to be sensitive to the issue, we also demand the perpetrators are exposed and prosecuted. We condemn the attacks”.
The police attacked the demonstrators using pepper gas as they tried to continue with the march after the statement was read out. With the skirmishes still spreading out to the city centre and neighbourhoods, many people have been detained.
SKIRMISHES CONTINUE IN YUKSEKOVA
Protest demonstrations in Yuksekova are still ongoing upon against the assault of the former DTP Leader AHMET Turk. While hundreds of people are engaged in skirmishes with the police in the streets of Yuksekova, the clashes are taking place more intensely