Speaking in the western Turkish province of Balikesir, Erdogan said: “I learned that Mr. Tahir Elci … and one Turkish police officer were just killed in an attack”.
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Hundreds of people have been killed since a conflict with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) reignited in July, wrecking a two-year ceasefire and a peace process.
A senior lawyer and a police officer have died after gunfire erupted in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir on Saturday.
Three policemen and an unknown number of journalists were wounded in the clashes, the witnesses said.
Tahir Elci, the head of Diyarbakir Bar Association, speaks to the…
“The moment the statement ended, the crowd was sprayed with bullets”, a local official from the pro-Kurdish HDP party, Omer Tastan, told Reuters. The Doğan news agency reported that the operations targeted sympathizers and supporters of the terrorist group ISIL.
Authorities declared a curfew in the Sur neighborhood where the attack occurred – a scene of frequent clashes between security forces and Kurdish youths.
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In an interview with the Iraqi Kurdish news agency Rudaw in October he said he had received death threats over his positions. The PKK is demanding greater autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds.
