ANKARA, Turkey (AP) - Thousands of Kurdish protesters rampaged after funerals for Kurdish guerrillas killed by Turkish troops, hurling firebombs at armored police vehicles and smashing windows at a police station. Forty people were injured.
The fighting Tuesday was among the worst street battles in overwhelmingly Kurdish southeastern Turkey in years. Turkish authorities took the unusual step of calling in paramilitary police to help police restore order.
The violence broke out after the funerals for four Kurdish guerrillas killed by Turkish troops in the past week. Riot police fired tear gas at the crowd and used pepper spray, triggering street clashes in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the southeast.
Protesters later overturned and set fire to two police cars and set fire to a bank.
The injured included two police officers who were stabbed and four people with gunshot wounds, hospital officials said. The governor's office said at least seven police officers were injured, and police detained 23 protesters.
The slain guerrillas were among 14 killed by soldiers in the province of Mus in a two-day clash that ended Saturday. They belonged to the Kurdistan Workers Party, which has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey since 1984.
Footage from private NTV television Tuesday showed an armored police vehicle engulfed in flames after being hit by a firebomb.
Protesters armed with stones and clubs shattered the windows of a police station, banks, shops and a government health clinic. They also smashed the windows of parked police vehicles outside the police station.
Further west in Adana, some 3,000 Kurdish protesters attending the funeral of another slain guerrilla clashed with police, prompting the officers to detain several people.
Tensions have been running high in the southeast, where autonomy-seeking Kurdish guerrillas have escalated attacks recently.
The fight for autonomy has killed more than 37,000 people. The Kurdistan Workers Party is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
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