Kurds and police clash for 5th day in Turkey
The Associated Press
Published: March 24, 2008
ANKARA: The police on Monday broke up a protest by hundreds of masked and stone-throwing Kurdish demonstrators during the fifth straight day of clashes that have killed two people and wounded dozens, news reports said.
The riot police fired rounds of tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd and were chasing the protesters in the town of Yuksekova, in Hakkari Province, the private Dogan news agency said.
It was the second day of clashes in Yuksekova, where a demonstrator was shot and killed Sunday. The authorities have denied responsibility in the killing, but the protesters shouted slogans Monday demanding the resignation of the governor of Hakkari.
The protesters, covering their faces with red scarves, threw stones at the riot police, who were using plastic shields to defend themselves and wearing gas masks and helmets. Turkish soldiers were watching the clashes from a distance, television footage from the news agency showed.
Here is the full article.
How will this effect major chess events in Turkey? I think it is important for the chess community to know the facts instead of just relying on the general media.
This is the update from Ozgur Akman…
Hakkari is the southeastern corner of Turkey. There would not be a major violence in central places. It is very far from where major chess events are held which are generally on the Mediterranean coasts, western cities or Ankara which is the capital.
Yuksekova, where the incidents occurred, is very close the Northern Iraq border and at the right bottom corner of Turkey. It is a passage for the Kurdish terrorists.
Even in Dogubeyazit (the province right at the skirts of Mount Ararat, a place that is much closer to danger ) there was Under16 World Chess Olympiad held in 2006 and nothing dangerous happened.
Recently Atatürk Women Masters was held at the heart of İstanbul, well nothing extraordinary happened.The next major international events are going to be in Ankara, the capital of Turkey next August.
I would be scared to play in Turkey with this type of violence. I hope FIDE won’t hold any event there until the violence stops.
there was the world youth in turkey and Kurdish crisis was present. children were in danger, and there were security measures. any sort of chess championship would be crazy at this time in turkey.
Hakkari is the southeastern corner of Turkey. There would not be a major violence in central places. It is very far from where major chess events are held which are generally on the Mediterranean coasts, western cities or Ankara which is the capital.
Yuksekova, where the incidents occurred, is very close the Northern Iraq border and at the right bottom corner of Turkey. It is a passage for the Kurdish terrorists.
Even in Dogubeyazit (the province right at the skirts of Mount Ararat, a place that is much closer to danger ) there was Under16 World Chess Olympiad held in 2006 and nothing dangerous happened.
Recently Atatürk Women Masters was held at the heart of İstanbul, well nothing extraordinary happened.
The next major international events are going to be in Ankara, the capital of Turkey next August.
I think Susan is right. We need to know the real info instead of rumors. Thank you Ozgur Akman for letting us know. Are you in Turkey?
Yes, I am from Turkey, I live in Ankara, I am actually the press officer of Turkish Chess Federation. I sometimes try to correct some prejudices against Turkey since the way media reflects can be really scaring people. I would have checked where Hakkari is before commenting…
Moreover, The World Youth is even very far away from the places that violences or terrorist attack occur.
The security measures are the regular ones that would be and maybe should be taken at any place around the world.
This was a simple demonstration, for newroz, which usually created tension because of the ongoing Kurdish problem in Turkey. It is not a big war or riot…Turkey hosted many international events and nothing happened to anyone. Turkish championship is now being held in Turkey, Ankara.
By the way my mistake, I forgot mentioning European Chess Solving Championshio on March 28 which is also very far away from the incidents.
I think it’s cool that Susan posted this to give the Turkish Chess Federation a chance to correct the misinformation by the media. Thanks Ozgur Akman for giving us the information. Bravo!
Sorry, for the occasional spelling mistakes since I felt that I had to post a quick response and did not recheck anything afterwards.
Thanks to the editors for publishing an update, or maybe Susan Polgar herself for putting the update.
Greetings from Ankara, Turkey.
Also, I decided to post another message about the background of this incident. Anyone interested can read it, since the report does not indicate anything about it.
Actually, these incidents are all related to celebarations of March 21, Newroz, the first day of Spring. This is a holiday celebrated in various regions in Asia and Balkans (which should be checked…).
It is also very important by Kurds. They usually light fire, dance around it and jump also. Until 1990s it was forbidden due to the fact that it was easy to create violence. The forbid was lifted, however, the violences are still occurig.
Ozgur Akman,
Thank you for posting the information for our readers from around the world. I think it is important for the chess community to know the facts directly from the Turkish Chess Federation instead of just relying on the general media which sometimes can be biased.
Please send my regards to Mr. Ali Nihat Yazici.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
There are heated terrorist actions in Turkey. The whole army could be mobilized at any time. Ankara is only 700 miles away from Hakkari. That’s less than driving mileage between San Diego to Sacramento, California. It’s very close. This is not a critique to the Turkish Chess Organization, which hosts well-org tournaments.
I like cheese.
Turkey stands just perfectly, while sharing a large border with Iraq and these rare incidences are directly related to the Iraq war. Since Iraq is divided now the northern Kurdish territories are carrying these incidents inside Turkey on the border. Except this border, and in fact a very narrow part of that border, the rest of Turkey is safe. In fact, the Turkish government would hold a safe organization in any city in Turkey. I am a physician, lived in Turkey for 30 years and also know the North America, both US and Canada well. Lived in Canada as well. bottomline, Turkey is fine, it shouldn’t be dismissed from any events. Anyone heard any incident about any international organization in Turkey? No. Very few governments would care such international events as turkish government and security services. No worries..
Defne Demir
Why are the Kurds not allowed to have their own state independent of Turkey, Iraq and Iran?
Why does Turkey want to hold on to an area that is not ethnically Turkish,probably never has been, and does not want to be part of Turkey?
What is the point?
This is the cause of the violence.
Turkey should also evacuate northern Cyprus.
stop the opression, torture and killing of the kurdish people by the turkish state
free kurdistan!
can i take this as an opportunity to ask about information about world juniors (u-20) which is scheduled on 2nd Aug-16th Aug?
Never! Down with oppression! Down with chess politics! Down with static cling! Down with the word “down”.
Pass the Marshmallows!