2 protesters killed in clashes with police

Two protesters were killed Monday in clashes with police in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir, as tensions surged over a days-long curfew imposed in the fight against militants.

The two demonstrators, aged 21 and 25, were shot dead in violent clashes that erupted over the curfew that has been in place in the city's central Sur district almost uninterrupted since December 2, a security source told AFP.

The circumstances of the deaths were not immediately clear. At least two other people were wounded and some 40 arrested.

Police had used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters seeking to march towards the Sur district in a demonstration led by Turkey's main Kurdish political party, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

Pro-Kurdish media showed two corpses lying face down in a pool of blood in a narrow street, alleging they had both been shot dead by the security forces.

The authorities have allowed only a single break in the curfew of less than a full day on December 11, allowing some trapped residents to leave the area.
The curfew in Sur was imposed shortly after prominent Kurdish lawyer Tahir Elci was killed in broad daylight in the narrow streets of the district on November 28, in a crime that remains unsolved.

The Turkish government has been waging a relentless offensive aimed at crippling the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has staged a string of attacks against security forces in Turkey since a two-year-old ceasefire fell apart in late July.

In separate violence, the security forces killed five "PKK terrorists" in an operation against militants in the Dargecit district of Mardin province also in the southeast, the official Anatolia news agency reported.

- 'One-by-one' -

The authorities have in recent months imposed curfews lasting up to two weeks in several towns in the southeast to back up military operations against the PKK.
The measures have proved controversial, with activists saying they deprive residents of vital services and put their health at risk.

But Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday insisted the curfews are needed to ensure the safety of citizens during essential operations.

"They think they (the militants) can intimidate us," he told A-Haber television in an interview.

"By building barricades and trenches, they want to push residents over the edge and they think people will then accuse the government."

"I am also not ecstatic over these curfews. But the absence of a curfew could lead to civilian losses. If necessary, these houses will be cleansed of terrorists one-by-one," he added.

The local authorities in the southeastern Sirnak province announced that new curfews would be imposed in the towns of Cizre and Silopi from 11:00 pm (2100 GMT). Reports said that convoys of special military units were already on their way to the towns.

Amid expectations a major military operation was to be launched in those areas, Turkish media reports said teachers had received text messages from the authorities warning them to leave immediately.

A nine-day curfew imposed amid an intense military operation in Cizre in September had aroused international concern over the humanitarian situation in the town.

The PKK launched a formal insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, initially fighting for Kurdish independence although it now presses more for greater autonomy and rights for the country's largest ethnic minority. The conflict has left tens of thousands dead.
Source :AFP