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| Two killed at pro-Kurdish protest | Two killed at pro-Kurdish protest |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Two people have been shot dead and several wounded during a pro-Kurdish demonstration in south-east Turkey, local media report. | Two people have been shot dead and several wounded during a pro-Kurdish demonstration in south-east Turkey, local media report. |
| A gunman opened fired on a crowd protesting against the banning of Turkey's main Kurdish party, the DTP, an official said. | A gunman opened fired on a crowd protesting against the banning of Turkey's main Kurdish party, the DTP, an official said. |
| The motivation for the shooting was not immediately clear. | The motivation for the shooting was not immediately clear. |
| Turkey's constitutional court last week banned the DTP for having links with Kurdish separatist rebels. | Turkey's constitutional court last week banned the DTP for having links with Kurdish separatist rebels. |
| The DTP (Democratic Society Party), which has 21 MPs, said it would withdraw from Turkey's parliament to protest against the ruling. | |
| Nationalist backlash | |
| Tuesday's shootings happened in the predominantly Kurdish province of Mus, Turkish NTV news reported. | |
| They came after at least two clashes between Kurdish protesters and security forces in eastern cities since Friday's court decision to ban the DTP. | |
| DTP supporters have staged protests outside the Turkish parliament | |
| The party was the latest in a series of 10 pro-Kurdish parties to be closed down by the Turkish authorities. | |
| The EU, which Turkey hopes to join, expressed concern at the ruling. | |
| Four months ago, Turkey's government promised a new beginning in the state's relationship with its largest minority, the Kurds. | |
| It offered reforms giving the Kurds greater freedom of expression, hoping to cut support for the armed uprising waged by the separatist PKK for the past 25 years. | |
| But there has been a strong nationalist backlash against the initiative, fired up by a series of provocative incidents which culminated in the killing this week of seven soldiers by the PKK. | |
| Hopes for a political settlement to the Kurdish conflict rested to a large extent on the growing co-operation between the government and the DTP, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul. | |
| Party leaders have warned the party's closure would only cause greater feelings of frustration and hopelessness within the Kurdish community, our correspondent adds. | |
| Some 40,000 people have died since the outlawed PKK launched an armed campaign in the mainly Kurdish south-east in 1984. | |
| Kurds make up about 20% of Turkey's population of more than 70 million. | |
| The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the EU and the US. |