NORTH KURDISTAN, — In the funeral day of Kurdish guerrillas who lost their life in Uludere on the 13 and 14 May, Turkish police has carried out raids and made scores of arrests.
A total of 252 people, including many children and a 70-year- old woman in Bingöl, were taken into custody. Many of the people were detained after the many demonstrations organized in many Kurdish cities to protest against the ongoing military operations and in particular against the slaughter of 12 young PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) guerrillas on May 12 and 14 in the rural areas of Uludere, a district of Sirnak.
The long list of arrests started in the early hours of Tuesday morning: 47 people have been taken into custody in Yenimahalle, Gazi and Berçelan (all in the province of Hakkari); 54 people have been taken into custody in Hakkari; 20 in Siirt; 50 in Diyarbakır; one in Ergani and one in Çınar (province of Diyarbakır). The list continued with at least five people taken into custody in Bingöl, including 70 years old Zahide Yıldız, who has been taken to hospital after feeling ill; 15 people have been detained in Cizre, 11 in Kurtalan (in the province of Siirt). A further 53 in Gaziosmanpaşa (a neighbourhood of Istanbul) following a march attended by over 10 thousand people; two in Bahçesaray, a district of Van; 13 in Manisa; two in Patnos, a district of Ağrı; at least three in Kızıltepe, a district o f Mardin; two in Kars, five in Doğubeyazıt, a district of Kars; two Elazığ, four Adana; four in Van; and one in Muğla.
Protests and clashes had been going on all day in several places. The police turned the region into battle field.
Labor, Democracy and Freedom Block candidates like Şerafettin Elçi, Gültan Kısanak, Nursel Aydoğan, Emine Ayna, Altan Tan, Leyla Zana, Hasip Kaplan, Sabahat Tuncel, Levent Tüzel, and many Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) managers, including Co-Chair Filiz Koçali, and Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir had joined the protests.
Turkish police used gas bombs and pressurized water to disperse the crowd in Batman, in Silopi, a district of Şırnak; in Beyoğlu and Gaziosmanpaşa, districts of İstanbul; in Çınar and Ergani, districts of Diyarbakır (four including two children); one in Milas, a district of Muğla; five in Elazığ; in Doğubeyazıt, a district of Ağrı; Yüzüncü Yıl University and four in Başkale, district of Van; Hakkari; Adana.
So far, among the many injured, a child is reported to be in serious condition in Şırnak’s district Silopi.
As well as demonstrations to honour the guerrillas, all shutters were down in Hazro, İdil, Çınar, Bismil and Lice, districts of Diyarbakır; Elazığ; Iğdır; Malazgirt, Bulanık, districts of Muş; Uludere, Yüksekova, Çukurca and Şemdinli, districts of Hakkari and in Hakkari Centre; Kızıltepe, Nusaybin and Derik; districts of Mardin, Batman; İdil, Silopi, districts of Şırnak; Suruç, a district of Urfa; Kurtalan, a district of Siirt; Doğubayazıt and Diyadin, districts of Ağrı; Başkale and Tatvan, districts of Van and also in Van centre; Kars; İstanbul’s many districts; Denizli; Edremit, a district of Balıkesir; and Bingöl. Three days of mourning had been announced in all of these places.
Eleven vehicles were set on fire in İstanbul’s district Bakırköy.
BDP plans to hold a march in İzmir tomorrow in the context of demonstrations to be organized in many cities. ANF