Turkish-Kurd tensions spill into Europe's streets (Turks attack Kurdish cultural center in Europe)

Christian Science Monitor ^ | 2007 Nov 8 | Ranty Islam

[Wiz]

Berlin - The simmering tensions in Turkey's Kurdish southeast are not only playing out along the country's border with Iraq, where the military has amassed tens of thousands of troops following renewed clashes with Kurdish rebels holed up in Iraq's mountainous north. They're also spilling onto the streets of European cities from Berlin to Brussels to Innsbruck, Austria.

This weekend, authorities are braced for another round of protests in the German capital, where two weeks ago Turkish ultranationalists attacked a Kurdish cultural center, wielding machetes and injuring dozens of people. Last weekend, some 600 mainly Kurdish protesters returned to Hermannplatz – a square in Berlin's heavily immigrant Neukölln district – to inform the public of their view: that Turkey is still repressing the Kurdish people.

"It's been going on for years. The recent threat of Turkish military incursions into northern Iraq to attack us is just the last straw," says Ahmed, a young man handing out pro-Kurdish leaflets.

With 2.5 million residents of Turkish origin, including an estimated 400,000 who identify themselves as Kurdish, Germany is home to the largest expatriate community from Turkey and is perhaps the most visible European arena for Turkish-Kurd tensions. The expat violence has prompted politicians including the German interior minister to warn against the Kurdish conflict spilling over to Germany and other European countries.

[Wiz]

Turks used violence in their protests against the Kurdish cultural center. It's no different from the violent liberals protests in US.

[359Henrie]

What, no Armenians in Germany?

[Vince Ferrer]

Good thing Germany is a melting pot where different people can immigrate and create a new common identity with their fellow Germans.