Turkey: Kurd protesters seek refuge in Italian-run church

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

Kurd protesters seek refuge in Italian-run church 
07:53 a.m. Nov 17, 1998 Eastern 

ISTANBUL, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Turkish police on Tuesday detained a
group of Kurdish demonstrators who had briefly taken refuge in an
Italian-run church from a crowd of angry passers-by.

The 15 or so Kurds had been protesting nearby at the detention in
Italy of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, also
known as ``Apo.''

Witnesses said the protestors handed themselves over to police at the
red-brick San Antonio di Padua church in the heart of Istanbul after a
short spell inside the building.

The Kurds had fled a crowd of angry shoppers and passers-by who had
objected to their protest. ``Damn the PKK, Damn Italy,'' chanted a
crowd outside the Gothic church, a throwback to the days when Istanbul
had a large Christian population.

Anti-rebel sentiment in Turkey is running high following reports in
the Turkish press that Italy was sympathetic to Ocalan's application
for asylum and was unlikely to hand him over to Turkish justice.

Turkey holds Ocalan responsible for more than 29,000 deaths in a
14-year conflict between security forces and the PKK, fighting for
self rule for Turkey's mainly-Kurdish southeast.  Full story Kurd
protesters seek refuge in Italian-run church 07:53 a.m. Nov 17, 1998
Eastern

ISTANBUL, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Turkish police on Tuesday detained a
group of Kurdish demonstrators who had briefly taken refuge in an
Italian-run church from a crowd of angry passers-by.

The 15 or so Kurds had been protesting nearby at the detention in Italy of
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, also known as ``Apo.'' 

Witnesses said the protestors handed themselves over to police at the
red-brick San Antonio di Padua church in the heart of Istanbul after a
short spell inside the building.

The Kurds had fled a crowd of angry shoppers and passers-by who had
objected to their protest. ``Damn the PKK, Damn Italy,'' chanted a
crowd outside the Gothic church, a throwback to the days when Istanbul
had a large Christian population.

Anti-rebel sentiment in Turkey is running high following reports in
the Turkish press that Italy was sympathetic to Ocalan's application
for asylum and was unlikely to hand him over to Turkish justice.

Turkey holds Ocalan responsible for more than 29,000 deaths in a
14-year conflict between security forces and the PKK, fighting for
self rule for Turkey's mainly-Kurdish southeast.

-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan!
Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org                          
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