Erdogan denounces Turkey protests as peace process 'sabotage'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Thursday that the peace process with Kurdish rebels would not be derailed by "sabotage", after at least 23 people were killed in protests over the government's policy on Islamic State (IS) militants.

Protesters in several cities in the southeast of the country with large Kurdish populations clashed overnight Wednesday to Thursday for the third night running with police, in the worst outbreak of such violence in years. 

The latest death came in the southeastern province of Mardin when one protester was killed and half a dozen wounded in clashes with police Thursday.

The violence has sparked fears that the standoff over Kobane could endanger talks between the government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting an insurgency for self-rule in southeast Turkey.

Erdogan blamed the unrest on the "dark forces" seeking to sabotage the delicate peace process to end 30 years of violence that has claimed at least 40,000 lives.  

"It's very obvious that this game is aimed at sabotaging the peaceful environment in the east and southeast as well as the peace process and our brotherhood," Erdogan said in his first comments on the unrest.

AFP