By Daren Butler

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - A three-year-old child killed by a stray bullet raised to seven on Friday the death toll from days of clashes between riot police and Kurdish protesters in Turkey's troubled southeast, Turkish media said.

In a separate incident highlighting the tensions ravaging the impoverished, mainly Kurdish region, security forces said they had killed seven guerrillas of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), two of them women, in rural Sirnak province.

The European Union, which Turkey aims to join, expressed concern about the violence and urged Ankara to do more to combat poverty in the southeast and to boost Kurds' cultural rights.

In Diyarbakir, the main city of the southeast which this week has seen its worst civil unrest in decades, lines of riot police in full body armor and helmets held automatic rifles as small groups of protesters chanted slogans.

Earlier, dozens of youths burned tires and threw stones at security forces for a fourth consecutive day, though violence was subdued compared to the running battles of previous days.

"It has calmed down for now but the situation could explode again at any moment," said Mehmet, 26. Like most local people, he preferred not to give a surname.

Shopkeeper Ahmet, 35, said: "The state has provoked this... People have grabbed their weapons again because nothing has been done to bring peace to the region."

Turkey's southeast suffers high unemployment and many Kurds want political autonomy and more cultural freedoms. They feel the Turkish state is hostile to them and express sympathy for the PKK, branded by Ankara, the EU and Washington as a terrorist group.

The clashes first erupted on Tuesday after funeral ceremonies for 14 PKK members killed by troops last weekend.

Separately, an explosion killed one person and injured five others near a bus station in an historic area of Istanbul on Friday. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.

Turkish NTV television said Fatih Tekin, 3, died while playing on Friday in the town of Batman to the east of Diyarbakir. It said he was killed after police fired into the air to disperse protesters, but gave no details.

Officials confirmed a child had died of gunshot wounds, but police had no immediate comment on the circumstances cited by

NTV.

Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir said two other people had died in clashes in his city, but he gave no details.

Most shops and offices reopened for the first time in days.

CHILDREN AMONG DEAD

A man and a child were shot dead on Wednesday and a second man was crushed under a police armored car in Diyarbakir. A second child, aged 8, died overnight in a Diyarbakir hospital and was buried swiftly to avoid triggering further riots.

Shopkeepers in Diyarbakir, a city of nearly a million people, said they had been closed previously because of threats.

They did not say who made the threats but Turkish officials say the PKK is behind the riots and wants to foster a climate of fear and chaos.

"For three days, we could not open. Those who did closed again after receiving threats. But today we opened. Nobody has threatened us ... We hope there will be no more threats," said one tradesman, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The EU expressed concern about the situation.

"We are aware of the serious terrorist problem in the region but it is a much wider problem than just a security issue," EU Commission spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy said.

"The region needs peace, economic development and real exercise of cultural rights for Kurds," Nagy added.

Ankara has lifted restrictions on the Kurdish language and culture in EU-linked reforms over the past few years, but critics say it needs to do much more.

Turkish government ministers praised the security forces' handling of the riots, saying they had acted with restraint. They accused the PKK and its supporters of deliberately using children in the protests in order to win sympathy.

Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said during a visit to Diyarbakir the violence -- which has also targeted banks and shopping centers -- would deter badly needed investment.

NTV television said police had arrested 79 people in the clashes so far after detaining more than 200.

Ankara sees the PKK as a terrorist group wholly responsible for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since it launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984. But many Kurds view the PKK sympathetically.

(Additional reporting by Ingrid Melander in Brussels)

kurdishinfo.com

ELIH(DIHA) -After random shots of police who had raided to houses, 3 old year Fatih Tekin named kid had losed his live in Batman.

3 year old Fatih Tekin named kid had lost his live after the fire of security forces who had raided in houses. 3 year old Fatih Tekin who was wounded by his cheek while he was in the roof of his house by random fire opened by security forces, could not be saved in the Batman State Hospital which he was rushed to. Upon incidence many soldier was dispatched to Batman's Yavuz Selim and Bayindirlik Parishes. Intervention of soldiers to houses continues.

North kurdistan

Read on: www.kurdishinfo.com

At least 70 people were reported killed when a powerful earthquake struck Lorestan Province, western Iran, on Friday, wiping out villages and sending panicked residents fleeing from their homes. Over 1,200 people were also reported to have been wounded.
According to official reports the quake was rated at 6.0 on the Richter scale which struck at 04:47 am (01:17 GMT).
Mohammad Reza Mohseni Sani, mullahs' governor of Lorestan Province, told the state television that some 330 villages suffered damages between 40 to 100 percent.
Poorly built houses using mud is the main reason for high number of casualties in Iran when quake strikes and in view of frequent tremors in the country the regime has no plan to improve the state of housing in accordance with standards for quake zones.
People in the area are expressing their dissatisfaction with the rescue operations and the hospitals are filled with wounded with no adequate medicine to help them. The number of casualties are expected to rise.

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey,(Reuters) - Six people have been killed so far in days of clashes between Kurdish protesters and police in Diyarbakir, the main town of Turkey's troubled southeast, its mayor said on Friday.
An eight-year-old child died overnight in hospital. A man and a child were shot dead on Wednesday and a second man was crushed under a police armoured car. It was not immediately clear when or how the other two people died.
"Six people have died, 200 people are wounded," Mayor Osman Baydemir told a news conference amid the worst social unrest in the impoverished region in decades.
Daily running battles between thousands of stone-throwing youths and riot police armed with teargas and guns have turned Diyarbakir, a city of nearly one million people on the river Tigris, into a battle zone.
The clashes first erupted on Tuesday after funeral ceremonies for 14 members of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) killed by troops last weekend.
Many shops, banks and other buildings have been badly damaged. Cars and trucks have been torched.
Turkish television said many shops and offices had reopened on Friday, but witnesses reported renewed clashes between protesters and police in at least one district of the city.
CNN Turk television said on its Web site that small protests had also erupted overnight in a district of Istanbul, Turkey's largest city. Istanbul is far from the southeast but is home to a large Kurdish population.
Political analysts say they reflect local anger over high unemployment, poverty and Ankara's refusal to grant more autonomy to the mainly Kurdish region.
The state Anatolian news agency said police had arrested 48 people so far after detaining more than 200.
Police spokesman Ismail Caliskan told a news conference in the Turkish capital Ankara that the PKK was behind the violence.
"But our security forces have prevented the incidents from becoming bigger by behaving sensibly. Nothing can be gained by violence. The rioters' actions will also prevent democratisation in the region," Caliskan said.
Ankara regards the PKK as a terrorist group responsible for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since it launched its armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984. But many Kurds view the PKK sympathetically.
Mayor Baydemir, viewed with suspicion in Ankara as a Kurdish separatist, said the government should try to understand the causes of the Kurdish protesters' anger.
"(Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan) should come and share the pain of our families... Our city has never witnessed such prolonged social anger," Baydemir said.
State prosecutors have begun an investigation of comments by Baydemir they believe may have helped incite the rioters.
Erdogan has appealed for calm and denied opposition claims that the government has lost control of the situation.
"Our people should feel at peace, they will be safe. Security forces will do what is necessary," he said on Thursday evening after returning to Ankara from a foreign trip.

KurdishMedia.com

London (KurdishMedia.com) 30 March 2006: The Iranian leadership is under pressure from the international community and a possible change or reform in the political leadership and system is likely in the future. Kurds can be extremely influential in the changes in Iran.

Read on: http://kurdmedia.com/articles.asp?id=11818