Elections/Kurdes : émeute à Bismil – 21 avril 2011

Blood, flames engulf southeastern Turkey as clashes continue

hurriyetdailynews.com

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Tensions continued in eastern and southeastern Turkey as many waited anxiously for a new decision from the Supreme Election Board, or YSK, which had vetoed 12 independent candidates on Monday, sparking nationwide protests.

Thousands of Kurds took to the streets in southeastern Turkey on Thursday for the funeral of a slain protestor and waged pitched battles with police in a third day of turmoil.

A policeman and a school employee were injured in a fight in central Batman when an unidentified person opened fire as police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators hurling stones and petrol bombs, Anatolia news agency reported, adding that the policeman was hit by three bullets.

In nearby Bismil district, an estimated 30,000 people marched at the funeral of İbrahim Oruç, 18, a protester killed in clashes the previous day, and chanted slogans in favor of the Outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The mourners carried the coffin, wrapped in PKK flags, on their shoulders as masked youth shouting « Revenge, revenge! » escorted the procession. The crowd was led by prominent Kurdish politicians, including Gülten Kışanak, who was among the seven candidates declared ineligible to run in the June 12 parliamentary elections. Unrest broke out as militant youths, marching back to the city center, hurled Molotov cocktails and stones at the security forces who responded with pepper gas and pressurized water.

There were similar scenes of violence in other towns across the Southeast.

A fire broke out at a bank office in the eastern province of Van after demonstrators threw a Molotov cocktail at the building Thursday. A group gathered in Van to protest the killing of Oruç. Oruç was shot and killed by the police Wednesday during a demonstration in Bismil.

The group attacked a private bank branch, hurling stones and Molotov cocktails. Bank employees and customers were trapped inside and were affected by smoke from the fire. Police and firefighters rescued the people trapped in the bank. Three people were hospitalized, including one pregnant woman. Riot police dispersed the protesters using water cannons and tear gas. Read more…

Violence Flares for Third Day Over Turkish Election Ban

VOA News

April 21, 2011

Faced with growing street violence, Turkey’s top election board on Thursday partially reversed its controversial decision barring 12 pro-Kurdish candidates from June elections.

Thousands of Kurds had taken to the streets earlier, throwing firebombs and stones at police during the funeral of a protester killed the day before during demonstrations over the banning of the Kurdish candidates.

Hundreds of police were present as the body of Ibrahim Oruc was taken from a mosque in Diyarbakir to be buried in nearby Bismil, where he was killed in Wednesday’s violence.

For three days demonstrators had been protesting Monday’s ruling by the High Election Board preventing 12 candidates from running in the national election. Read more…