Turkish police in Istanbul clashed with scores of stone-throwing Kurdish protesters Thursday, after a peace rally organized by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party turned violent.
Police warned the mainly youthful protestors about carrying banners supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Some of the demonstrators, many wearing scarves to cover their faces, protested when ordered to go through security checkpoints.
The protestors threw rocks and Molotov cocktails, as police fired tear gas to break up the demonstration.
The Kurds are protesting a series of Turkish military airstrikes on suspected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq last month. The military says up to 160 suspected rebels died in those strikes.
Turkey, the United States and the European Union consider the PKK a terrorist group.
Turkey has promised a renewed crackdown on the rebels, who have waged a campaign for autonomy in the country's largely Kurdish southeast since 1984. The conflict has killed more than 40,000 people.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
