Security forces in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, have clashed with pro-Kurdish protesters, who are furious at the Turkish government’s inaction over the IS terrorists’ advance in Syria's Kurdish border town of Kobani.
On Thursday, police forces in Ankara used water cannon and fired tear gas at the protesters in a bid to disperse them. The angry demonstrators, in turn, threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the police.
Similar clashes between the police and protesters were also reported in Istanbul.
During the past days, people have held massive pro-Kurdish protest rallies across Turkey, criticizing Ankara for doing nothing to save the strategic town of Kobani, close to Syria's border with Turkey.
Nineteen people have been killed and nearly 150 others wounded during the demonstrations, Turkish Premier Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday, adding that 368 people have been also arrested.
However, Turkish media put the number of fatalities at 22.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the demonstrators of seeking to sabotage peace talks between the government and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
“It's very obvious that this game is aimed at sabotaging the peaceful environment in the east and southeast as well as the peace process and our brotherhood,” he said.
Earlier this month, the imprisoned PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan, warned that negotiations with the Turkish government would come to an end if the IS militants are allowed to carry out a massacre in Kobani.
The IS terror group launched its assault on the Kobani region three weeks ago, forcing 200,000 mainly Kurdish refugees to flee into neighboring Turkey. The terrorist group has reportedly captured a third of the town.
The IS have committed widespread acts of violence, including mass executions, abductions, torture and forcing women into slavery in the areas they have seized in Iraq and Syria.
