Clashes at funeral for killed PKK figure in Turkey

Turkish police and protesters engaged in violent clashes on Wednesday at the funeral of a senior Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) figure killed a day earlier, reports said.

Baris Tekce, known by his nom-de-guerre Andok and described as the top PKK figure in the southeastern Hakkari region, died on Tuesday in clashes with the security forces, Turkish media said.

The PKK confirmed his death in a statement, saying he had been killed in an attack by a helicopter gunship during an operation in Hakkari, on the border with Iran and Iraq.  

It said he had been with the guerillas since 2010.

Tensions erupted in Hakkari city on Wednesday afternoon as his corpse was being taken to the municipal cemetery for burial.

Thousands of people turned out brandishing Kurdish flags, with police firing in the air and using water cannon and protesters throwing stones at the security forces, the Dogan news agency reported. The clashes were ongoing, the reports said.

After a wave of attacks, the Turkish military has embarked on a campaign to bomb rebel PKK targets inside Turkey and northern Iraq.

The PKK has retaliated by carrying out daily attacks in Turkey on the security forces, in an escalating cycle of violence.