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Fierce clashes with police occur in southeast of Turkey

The police dispersed rallies aimed at expressing indignation over the terrorist attack in Sanliurfa Province
Police in Diyarbakir (archive) AP Photo/Emre Tazegul
Police in Diyarbakir (archive)
© AP Photo/Emre Tazegul

ANKARA, July 22. /TASS/. Clashes with police have occurred on Tuesday in the city of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey. According to the local television, they were provoked by aggressive groups of individuals, which concentrated in a few areas of the city to express indignation over the terrorist attack in Sanliurfa Province.

The protesters set fire to garbage cans in the streets and demonstrated indignation over the actions of the Islamic State group which is considered to be the organizer of the recent terrorist attack. The police special purpose units tried to convince them to disperse. In response, demonstrators began to throw stones and Molotov cocktails at law enforcers and armored vehicles and fired from pump-action shotguns several times.

The police had to use tear gas and water cannons to disperse the instigators of the riots.

Security forces are carrying out detentions. According to media reports, the situation is gradually returning to normal.

Similar clashes occurred earlier in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district where police detained several dozen people after using tear gas and water cannons against the protesters.

On Monday a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device near the Amara Cultural Center in the town of Suruc (in Sanliurfa Province) killing 32 people. Around 100 people were wounded in the blast.