Death toll at 34 from violent protests in Turkey
Protests demanding Turkish support for the Kurdish fighters against ISIL at Kobani have led to violence and destruction of property
ANKARA
The death toll from "illegal" pro-Kurdish protests in Turkey has risen to 34.
On Sunday, a man died from head injuries after clashing with police in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, hospital authorities said.
Musa Bayram, 26, was shot in the head in a random shooting Friday by unidentified assailants at Gaziantep. His body, after an autopsy, has been sent to Beytussebap, his hometown, in the southeastern province of Sirnak.
The protests raged mainly on Thursday and Friday in different parts of the country: 12 in Diyarbakir, six in Mardin, five in each Siirt, Gaziantep, two in Van along with one in each of the provinces of Batman, Mus, Adana and Istanbul, respectively.
The protesters claim the Turkish government was doing nothing to halt the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the Syrian town of Kobani, also known as known Ayn al-Arab, just across the Turkish border.
Most casualties occurred in clashes between supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and a group reportedly belonging to the Islamist Kurdish political party, the Free Cause Party.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey as well as by the U.S. and the EU.
