Police open fire on funeral ceremony, wound 9
HAKKARİ (DİHA) - Turkish police attacked a crowd of thousands at a funeral ceremony for HPG fighter Barış Tekçe, wounding nine.
Barış Tekçe (nom de guerre Andok Colemêrg) was a member of the HPG forces (affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK). He lost his life on Tuesday in a clash with Turkish soldiers at a bridge in Hakkari province, along the road between Hakkari and Çukurca.
Yesterday, Barış' body was brought to the city of Hakkari. Thousands of people organized a march marching from the hospital to the cemetery where Barış was to be buried, chanting slogans including "martyrs never die."
Police attacked the crowd outside the provincial police headquarters. The police used tear gas, water cannons and real bullets on the crowd. Youth threw stones in response.
Nine people--three of them women, six men--were hospitalized after the attack.Most were hospitalized with tear gas-related complications after the attack; one woman, 35-year-old Şükran Er, fell from a wall. The funeral ceremony continued.
Despite all police attacks, tens of thousands of people laid the fighter to rest.
(cm/nt)
