Kurds and Turks protests in Germany 04/11/2007 00:00

Berlin (dpa) - Kurds and Turkish nationalists took to the streets of German cities Saturday to demonstrate against one another as tension rose amid portents of war in Turkey's south-east.

Apart from a brawl in the port city of Hamburg, the demonstrations passed off without violence. The nationwide turnout on both sides totalled more than 10,000, according to police figures.

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned in the newspaper Bild am Sonntag, set to appear Sunday, that the ethnic conflict could radicalize both Kurds and Turks living in Germany.

He appealed for protests to stay peaceful.

One of the biggest protests against the Kurdistan Workers Party PKK was held in the southern city of Nuremberg, with 7,000 Turkish nationalists joining the march.

At a pro-PKK demonstration in Hamburg, 2,000 people marched past shoppers along main streets under close scrutiny by the police. There was a punch-up when a man held a Turkish flag over them from a bridge.

In the western city of Cologne, police kept rival groups apart.

A week ago Turks and Kurds brawled with one another in Berlin, injuring more than a dozen people.

Tension has heightened as Turkey prepares for cross-border strikes against PKK guerrillas holed up in Iraq.

DPA

Subject: German news