Turkey detains 40 suspected IS militants in raids
Turkey's state-run news agency says police have detained some 40 suspected Islamic State group militants in raids in southern Turkey.…
About 20,000 protesters demonstrated on Saturday in the western
German city of Cologne against the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan.
The rally in an industrial area along the Rhine River
brought together pro-Kurdish demonstrators and members of the Alevi religious
minority protesting Erdogan’s crackdown after a failed coup attempt in Turkey
this summer.
A group of about 200 to 300 Kurdish youth broke away from
the main protest and several were taken into custody after throwing stones and
bottles at police, authorities said. One police officer was slightly injured.
Advertisement
Police say many of the youth were wearing masks, and some
were displaying banned symbols of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
Erdogan’s government recently ordered the arrest of nine
lawmakers of the pro-Kurdish HDP party, which it accuses of acting as the
political wing of the outlawed PKK — an allegation the HDP rejects.
The PKK has waged a three-decades-long insurgency against
the state, and Erdogan has blamed countries in Europe for supporting and arming
the group.
Advertisement
