ANKARA, October 9. /TASS/. A total of 23 people died in clashes between Kurds and police in several cities across Turkey, in which protesters used firearms, the local Haberturk TV channel reported on Thursday.

In Mardin, in southeastern Turkey, demonstrators broke into a shop, stole pump-action shotguns and took to the streets with them. Two bodies have been discovered in the center of the city.

In Istanbul, one person was killed as rioters and police faced off. In the eastern Turkish city of Agri, protesters set on fire more than 10 cars and buses and set ablaze a municipal building.

The demonstrations, led by the supporters of pro-Kurdish parties and a militant separatist organization, Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), have swept across almost all the major cities throughout Turkey. Tourist areas have not been targeted.

The rioters condemn the lack of the Turkish government’s military support for the Kurdish defenders of the key Syria-Turkey border town of Kobane, which is being attacked by the IS (also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - ISIL) militants.