Turkish PM warns against 'provocations'
- Clashes between pro and anti-PKK groups in Cizre town of Turkey's southeastern Sirnak province killed three people and injured three others.
ANKARA
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Sunday that Saturday's clashes between pro and anti-PKK groups, which killed three people, were "all provocations which were not only aimed at the state but also intended to cause anger between different political groups."
Davutoglu advised people to be calm, and said: "We will not tolerate those who want to transport the clashes and unrest outside Turkey into our country, especially to the border provinces."
The clashes, which started at 3.00 am (0100GMT) Saturday in Cizre town of Turkey's southeastern Sirnak province, killed Yasin Ozer, Abdullah Deniz and Baris Dalmis and left three others -- Nedim Kultur, Hakim Budak and Hekim Kasirga -- injured.
Late on Saturday, a group of masked people in Silopi town in Sirnak province protested the Cizre clashes and closed off the Ipekyolu road to vehicles.
Two people, Musa Azma and Mahsun Bilen, were injured in the protests and police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the groups.
"Through social media and some broadcasting, certain circles tried to stir up the provocations by creating an image of 'there is no control but chaos in Cizre,'" Davutoglu told journalists in Konya where he went to attend his AK Party's provincial convention.
Earlier in October, similar clashes and protests erupted - resulting in some 40 deaths. They started when the Syrian border town of Kobani came under attack by ISIL militants and it was alleged that the Turkish government was not doing enough to help the town’s Kurdish-majority population.
He stressed that the state has taken very effective measures against such provocative acts and that no such incidents can stop the steps for the country's "solution process."
"Whenever there is progress in the solution process, such provocations appear, which reveals that many circles are really uncomfortable with the process," the Turkish PM said.
The Turkish government’s "solution process" was launched in 2013 and aims to bring an end to the decades-long conflict with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party PKK, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives.
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