Police protesters clash in Diyarbakir curfew imposed

(MENAFN- Arab News) DIYARBAKIR: Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse a protest against a security crackdown in the main southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Monday witnesses said while curfews were declared elsewhere in the region.
Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast has been beset by unrest in recent months as security forces battle Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants after a cease-fire collapsed in July. Ankara has imposed round-the-clock curfews in many areas.
The latest clashes began as hundreds gathered for a march called by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to demonstrate against a nearly two-week-long curfew in the city's historic district of Sur.
Protesters lobbed stones at the police. Shopkeepers shuttered their stores ahead of the protest which the government said was banned. Few buses were operating in the city and rubbish has not been collected.
In Sirnak province the governor imposed a curfew in two towns near the borders of both Syria and Iraq from Monday night a day after teachers were seen streaming out of the area on the orders of education authorities. The towns of Cizre and Silopi were under tight security with police armored vehicles stationed at the entrances to both witnesses said.
'A curfew is declared to neutralize separatist terror group members remove explosives-laden barricades and ditches ... and secure public order' the Sirnak governor's office said in a statement. It said the curfew would begin at 11 p.m. (2100 GMT).
On Sunday teachers were spotted lugging suitcases along roads to bus stations or seeking to hitch-hike with passing vehicles.
Witnesses said local teachers had received an SMS message instructing them to return to their home provinces for training between Dec. 14-16. Turkish teachers are often posted on assignments away from home.