Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- Sunday September 2, 8:53 PM Several detained as Turkish police clash with Kurdish protestors ANKARA, Sept 2 (AFP) - Riot police moved in on Kurdish protestors in Istanbul on Sunday, detaining several of them as they gathered to mourn a supporter of the country's main Kurdish party who died fleeing police, a spokeswoman for the People's Democracy Party (HADEP) said. The incidents broke out when police told the mourners in front of the HADEP office in Zeytinburnu district, on the city's European side, that they could not hold a ceremony for Zeynel Durmus and asked them to disperse, local media reports said. Durmus, 19, fell to his death down a ventilation shaft on Friday as he was running away from police on the roof of the party building in Zeytinburnu. When the crowd stood its ground and began chanting slogans in favour of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), police took action. The protestors retaliated by throwing stones and attacking officers with sticks, while police used tear gas and water cannon against the group. The scuffles lasted up to an hour with the protestors fleeing into side streets and police chasing them, the reports said. "We have no definite figure, but most of our supporters were detained," the HADEP spokeswoman said. She added that police had taken into custody the head of HADEP's Zeytinburnu office, Dogan Erbas, who is also a lawyer for Ocalan, and three other party members prior to the mourning ceremony. Following the violence, police launched raids on HADEP offices in Istanbul to carry out a search, the spokeswoman said. Sunday's clashes came a day after police detained hundreds of people across Turkey in a clampdown on HADEP supporters who gathered to mark world peace day, September 1. Some 200 people were taken in in Istanbul as they clashed with police following their celebrations, while Ankara police detained some 700 people amid strict security measures to prevent unwanted incidents. Meanwhile, Istanbul police announced Sunday that they had detained 21 PKK members who were allegedly killed ten members of the security forces in clashes in the past years and who were preparing to carry out violent attacks in Istanbul. HADEP often faces a heavy crackdown from Turkish authorities who accuse it of alleged ties to the PKK which has waged a 15-year armed campaign against Ankara for Kurdish self-rule in southeast Turkey. HADEP, which campaigns for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question, denies the charges, but nonetheless faces a possible ban for alleged association with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Tension and clashes in Turkey's southeast have scaled down since September 1999, when the PKK abandoned its armed campaign in favor of seeking a peaceful solution to the conflict following peace calls from Ocalan, who is on death row for treason. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: archive@jab.org T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
