Turkey marks first anniversary of 'Kobani protests'

ANKARA

A year ago Turkey’s “Kobani protests” saw 33 people killed in days of violent disorder.

In 35 cities across Turkey, pro-Kurdish demonstrators took to the streets to protest against the perceived inaction of the government in the face of Daesh’s attack on the Kurdish-Syrian town of Kobani, just across the border.

The protests saw 33 people, including two policemen, killed and 221 civilians and 139 police officers injured. Most of the casualties were caused in clashes between supporters of the PKK and the Kurdish Islamist party Huda-Par.

The government blamed the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) for inciting the violence by calling for people to protest against the situation in Kobani.

HDP leader Selhattin Demirtas said the party rejected violence. On Oct. 5, four young men were chased down and killed by assailants reportedly armed with machetes and guns as they distributed food aid to Syrian refugees.

The riots saw 113 buildings damaged, including 25 local government offices, 67 police stations and 29 political party buildings. Schools were also targeted - 201 were targeted in Turkey’s eastern provinces and 11 in Istanbul.

Nearly 900 people were arrested.Kobani - which was and still is under the control of the forces of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a Syrian affiliate of the PKK - was surrounded by Daesh in March, 2014. A full-scale attack was launched six months later.

The attack was eventually repelled, with the assistance of U.S. air power and Kurdish peshmerga fighters allowed to cross Turkish soil from Iraq to join the battle. Turkish officials have said nearly 200,000 Kobani residents fled the town, crossing into Turkey, and the exodus led to Turkish calls for a safe zone in Syria for refugees.