Kurdish protesters killed during security post protests buried during tense funeral

DİYARBAKIR

Kurds march behind a placard reading 'Revenge' on June 8, 2014 in Diyarbakır, southeastern Turkey, during the funeral of a man killed during clashes with Turkish soldiers the night before in Lice. AFP PHoto

Clashes erupted between the crowd and police June 8 during the funeral procession of one of the two Kurdish demonstrators killed by security forces during a raid on a roadblock in Diyarbakır’s Lice district, showing the dramatic escalation of tension in Turkey’s southeastern provinces.

Ramazan Baran, 24, and Abdulbaki Akdemir, 50, died as demonstrations against the construction of a gendarmerie post in Lice entered their third week on June 7.

A group of mourners in the district formed barricades following Baran’s funeral in Diyarbakır’s Bağlar district, hurling Molotov Cocktails and stones at the police, who resorted to tear gas and water cannons, Doğan News Agency reported. Akdemir was laid to rest in a village near Lice following the autopsy.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued June 8, Turkey’s General Staff said three members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) opened fire, prompting the soldiers’ response.

The Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), the urban wing of the PKK, accused the government of “preparing for war,” calling on people not to step back from protests against gendarmerie posts across the southeast.