Police disperse protesters in Turkey’s east, deputy injured

VAN – Cihan News Agency

REUTERS Photo

Police dispersed protesters who were staging a sit-in against a Jan. 10 police raid into a house of militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the eastern province of Van’s Edremit district on Jan. 11, detaining many.

Members of the provincial center of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) gathered in front of its headquarters to make a press statement as some shopkeepers in the district also refused to open their shops to protest the recent police raid. HDP provincial organization members staged a sit-in before the statement. However, police dispersed the crowd with pressurized water and detained a number of protesters.

Meanwhile, HDP Van deputy Lezgin Botan was injured during the police action and has been reported to be in good condition.

Police special forces raided a two-story house around 5 a.m. on Jan. 10, following a tip-off that its occupants were planning a large-scale attack in Van.

Twelve suspected PKK militants in the house, along with an officer identified as Önder Ertaş, were killed in the raid, which also injured two other officers, as the security forces seized weapons and ammunition in the house.