Protesting Kurds Storm Turkey’s London Embassy
Kurdish demonstrators stormed the Turkish Embassy in London’s exclusive Belgrave Square on Friday, causing extensive damage before surrendering to heavily armed police. No injuries were reported.
In Deventer, the Netherlands, about 50 protesters rioted after trying to enter the Turkish consulate. Two protesters were hospitalized and six police officers suffered minor injuries in the hourlong clash, a police spokesman said.
About 50 Turkish Kurds also peacefully occupied an Amnesty International office in Brussels on Friday. They dispersed after about five hours.
The actions were intended to attract attention to alleged recent Turkish brutality against Kurds.
Kurdish demonstrators in London said the embassy siege was to protest a clash in Turkey this week in which three Kurds were killed. Thirty demonstrators were arrested after occupying the embassy for about 80 minutes.
Protesters in Belgium handed out pamphlets accusing Turkish “death squads” of killing six Kurds on June 28 and July 4.
Turkey’s Kurdish population has frequently accused the government of human rights violations and banning Kurdish media.
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