TURKEY-KURDS/CLASHES Gunfire and explosions ring out in Turkey as violence flares in mainly Kurdish region

Record ID: 141725

  • Title: TURKEY-KURDS/CLASHES Gunfire and explosions ring out in Turkey as violence flares in mainly Kurdish region
  • Date: 6th September 2015
  • Summary: CIZRE, TURKEY (SEPTEMBER 6, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VIEW OF TOWN WITH ARMOURED POLICE VEHICLES DEPLOYED IN A MOUNTAINOUS AREA VARIOUS OF HOUSES IN CIZRE / SOUND OF GUNFIRE AND EXPLOSION PEOPLE STANDING IN STREET BEHIND BARRICADE ERECTED BY PKK MILITANTS VARIOUS OF HOME MADE BOMB MADE OF PORTABLE GAS BURNER IN STREET SMOKE RISING BEHIND BUILDINGS / PEOPLE WALKING IN STREET VARIOUS OF SMOKE AND FLAMES RISING FROM BARRICADES IN STREET DIYARBAKIR, TURKEY (SEPTEMBER 6, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS DEMONSTRATING TO DENOUNCE POLICE OPERATIONS IN SUR DISTRICT VARIOUS OF WATER CANNONS SPRAYING WATER AND PROTESTERS RUNNING AWAY PROTESTERS VARIOUS OF WATER CANNON SPRAYING ON PROTESTERS / MAN STANDING BEHIND TREE WATER CANNON SPRAYING IN STREET BOY THROWING STONES AT WATER CANNON
  • Embargoed: 21st September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1DDU02Z8PNRSXPEX6DL7UKZIC
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Clashes between Kurdish militants and Turkish security forces were underway in eastern town of Cizre on Sunday (September 6) as some residents were seen on streets despite an ongoing curfew which was imposed three days ago.
    Two people were killed in three days in clashes between security forces and suspected PKK militants, according to the town's mayor, Leyla Imret.
    Clashes between Turkish troops and PKK militants, who have bases in the mountains of nearby northern Iraq, have become a daily occurrence since the ceasefire fell apart, leaving peace negotiations to end the 30-year-old insurgency in tatters.
    The Turkish government accuses the PKK of ramping up its attacks and repeatedly breaching the now defunct ceasefire. The PKK, which is pushing for greater Kurdish rights, is on European and U.S. terror lists.
    Critics of President Tayyip Erdogan accuse him of using the renewed violence to scare voters away from the Kurdish-focused HDP, which strongly outperformed expectations in June's elections.
    In Diyarbakir, police used water cannon to disperse protesters gathered to denounce an air-supported operation against PKK militants launched after two policeman were killed and three others injured in predominantly Kurdish eastern Turkey's largest city when Kurdish militants clashed with security forces.
    Gunfire and explosions echoed across the centre of Diyarbakir on Sunday morning after fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fired a rocket-propelled grenade at police trying to fill in ditches dug by the PKK in the Sur district of the city.
    Security forces responded with an air-supported operation against the militants and the governor's office imposed a curfew in the area, ordering all residents to remain indoors.
    The clashes are the latest in a deadly drumbeat of violence that has swept eastern Turkey since July, when a two-year ceasefire between the PKK and the government collapsed, with both sides blaming each other.
    Since then officials say that more than 70 members of the security forces and hundreds of Kurdish militants have been killed in almost daily clashes.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register