Three stabbed on third day of university brawls in Diyarbakır

DİYARBAKIR - Doğan News Agency

Turkish riot policemen and soldiers disperse protestors in a field on April 9, 2013 during a demonsration near Dicle University in Diyarbakir after leftist Kurdish students clashed with right wing groups inside the university.AFP PHOTO / MEHMET ENGIN

Three students have been stabbed in a fight in the eastern province of Diyarbakır's Dicle University, as brawls between students continued for a third day.

Islamic and Kurdish student groups have been fighting since April 8 and police have detained several students following their intervention. The University decided to suspend classes for three days in order to prevent the incidents from escalating.

On April 8, four people, including one police officer, were injured.

The incidents occurred between students supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Islamic Hudapar members during the Holy Birth Week activities of the latter.

The first fight broke out on April 8 when Hudapar members were distributing brochures and statements on the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. On the second day, the two groups continued their campus battle with sticks and stones. The police intervened with gas bombs and water cannon.

Yesterday three students were taken to Dicle University’s Medicine Faculty Hospital after being stabbed.