Tension is rising in the mainly Kurdish southeast region of
Turkey after a pro-Kurdish party threatened to boycott parliament. Kurdish
rebels killed two Turkish police officers last week in the eastern province of
Tunceli.
The Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), which won 36
seats in a June 12 vote, said it would not attend parliament unless an elected
deputy is allowed to take his seat.
Turkey’s election board last week disqualified Hatip Dicle
due to a past conviction for spreading “terrorist propaganda.”
The move, which has sparked street protests in Kurdish
areas, could force a by-election.
Three newly elected BDP candidates protested with scores of
others in central Istanbul on Sunday. Stone-throwing protesters clashed with
police who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them. Authorities
detained 40 people.
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) ended a six-month
cease-fire in February and declared what it calls an “active defense” stance,
whereby its fighters will defend themselves if under threat but will not stage
attacks.
A PKK insurgency, seeking an independent Kurdish area in the
southeast, began in 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the
conflict, the majority of them Kurds.
