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Kurdish activist violence brings Kobani conflict to Turkish streets

By promoting violent activism, the Kurdistan Workers Party is pressuring the Turkish government, while restricting the state to responding with narratives instead of military measures.
Protesters run from a water cannon used by riot police to disperse them in Istanbul, during a pro-Kurdish demonstration in solidarity with the people of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, October 7, 2014. Turkey's president said Kobani was "about to fall" as Islamic State fighters pressed home a three-week assault that has cost a reported 400 lives and forced thousands to flee their homes. REUTERS/Osman Orsal (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR49AWY

After the intensification of street battles between the Islamic State (IS) and Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Kobani, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council released a statement that said, "Every Kurd and dignified person and friends should act now and enhance the resistance," calling for Kurdish youth to join the ranks of the fighters in Kobani.

Violent Kurdish protests spread to many cities in Turkey, including Ankara and Istanbul. At least 18 people have been killed so far, including 10 fatalities and 45 wounded in the clashes between pro-Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) Kurds and Kurdish-Islamist Huda-Par partisans in the city of Diyarbakir, heavily populated by Kurds.

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