TURKS AND KURDS COLLIDE IN BRUSSELS
PanARMENIAN.Net
02.04.2007 17:39 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Police fired water cannon and skirmished with up to
250 youths on Sunday after a Kurdish community center in Brussels was
set on fire, police said. The fire caused damage early on Sunday to
the building in a district where there is tension between Kurdish
and Turkish residents, a police spokesman said. Spokesman Johan
Verleyen said a small group of Kurds gathered at the center and were
attacked by a group of youths. Police attempted to keep the two groups
separated and were themselves attacked by the youths, who threw metal
bars and bottles, Verleyen said. Seven were arrested. Verleyen did
not identify the ethnicity of the youths but the Belga news agency
said they were Turkish. "It is well known there is tension between
the Turks and the Kurds, both of whom live in the area," Verleyen said.
An estimated 12 to 15 million Kurds live in Turkey, mainly in the
southeast of the country where Turkish security forces have been
battling separatist rebels for more than two decades in a conflict that
has claimed more than 30,000 lives. Turkey has eased some restrictions
on the Kurdish language and culture as part of its efforts to join
the European Union. But Brussels says Ankara needs to do more to
boost freedom of expression, Reuters reports.