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ISTANBUL — More than 200 people in Istanbul have protested peacefully against curfews and operations in mainly Kurdish cities and towns in southeastern Turkey, where security forces and Kurdish militants are locked in an intensifying conflict.
Sunday’s demonstration was called by the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party. It attracted more riot police than participants, some of whom chanted “long live the resistance of Kurdistan.”
Protesters called for an immediate resumption of negotiations between the government and Abdullah Ocalan, the detained leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
Riot police chased demonstrators down side streets, detained a handful of protesters and fired a salvo of rubber bullets at the departing crowd. No injuries were reported.
The Turkish military said Saturday that 261 militants have been killed since the start of operations in mid-December.
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