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Pro-Kurdish lawyer Tahir Elci shot dead in Turkey | Pro-Kurdish lawyer Tahir Elci shot dead in Turkey |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A prominent pro-Kurdish lawyer and rights activist has been shot dead in Diyarbakir, south-eastern Turkey. | |
Tahir Elci was killed in a gun battle between police and unidentified gunmen. Two police officers also died. | |
He had been making a statement calling for an end to violence between the Turkish state and the Kurdish rebel group the PKK when he was shot dead. | He had been making a statement calling for an end to violence between the Turkish state and the Kurdish rebel group the PKK when he was shot dead. |
Police in Istanbul fired water cannon to disperse crowds demonstrating against Mr Elci's death. | Police in Istanbul fired water cannon to disperse crowds demonstrating against Mr Elci's death. |
A curfew has now been imposed in the neighbourhood where Mr Elci was shot. | |
Mr Elci, who was head of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, had previously been detained and received death threats after saying the separatist PKK should not be regarded as a terrorist organisation. | Mr Elci, who was head of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, had previously been detained and received death threats after saying the separatist PKK should not be regarded as a terrorist organisation. |
In July violence resumed in the conflict between the army and the PKK after a ceasefire collapsed. Dozens have been killed in violent clashes since. | |
"We do not want guns, clashes and operations here", Mr Elci was saying before being shot. | "We do not want guns, clashes and operations here", Mr Elci was saying before being shot. |
"The moment the statement ended, the crowd was sprayed with bullets," a local official from the pro-Kurdish HDP party, Omer Tastan, told Reuters. | "The moment the statement ended, the crowd was sprayed with bullets," a local official from the pro-Kurdish HDP party, Omer Tastan, told Reuters. |
The US embassy in Ankara said it was "shocked" at Mr Elci's "tragic death", calling him a "a courageous defender of human rights". | The US embassy in Ankara said it was "shocked" at Mr Elci's "tragic death", calling him a "a courageous defender of human rights". |
The incident sparked instant protests in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Diyarbakir. | |
A crowd on Istanbul's central Istiklal Street chanted "We are all Tahir Elci" and "You can't kill us all," accusing the state of complicity in the attack. | |
Government supporters said Mr Elci was killed in a PKK attack while opponents blamed Turkish nationalists, talking of a "planned assassination", says the BBC's Mark Lowen in Turkey. | |
A Turkish government official said in a written statement: "We are determined to shed light on today's fatal incident in Diyarbakir. An official investigation has been launched and we have assigned four inspectors to this case. | |
"At this time, we believe that Mr Elci may have been caught in the crossfire but we aren't ruling out the possibility that a third party directly targeted him." | |
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the incident justified the state's "fight against terrorism". | President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the incident justified the state's "fight against terrorism". |