Police break up Kurds protesting air strike
- 12 years ago
Riot police use batons to disperse crowds and make arrests in southeastern Turkey on Saturday, three days after an air strike killed 35 villagers whom the military mistook for suspected Kurdish militants.
Despite a government promise of a full investigation, minority Kurds took to the streets in country-wide protests fueled by anger over the air strike.
The Turkish military says warplanes opened fire in the Iraqi border region after drones spotted what were believed to be suspected militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party - the PKK.
The attack has undermined efforts by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to engage Kurds in talks of a new constitution expected to address long-held Kurdish grievances.
The incident also threatens to ignite more violence from the PKK, which has been fighting for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in a conflict that has claimed 40,000 lives.
Katharine Jackson, Reuters.
Despite a government promise of a full investigation, minority Kurds took to the streets in country-wide protests fueled by anger over the air strike.
The Turkish military says warplanes opened fire in the Iraqi border region after drones spotted what were believed to be suspected militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party - the PKK.
The attack has undermined efforts by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to engage Kurds in talks of a new constitution expected to address long-held Kurdish grievances.
The incident also threatens to ignite more violence from the PKK, which has been fighting for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in a conflict that has claimed 40,000 lives.
Katharine Jackson, Reuters.