Kurds and Turks went to war on the street of Europe once again today. A group of Kurdish independence supporters leaving a rally in the Swiss town of Bern were rammed by a car allegedly driven by a supporter of Turkish nationalism. Two are thought to have died, with twenty injured.
The initial rally was organised by the “Union of Turkish Democrats in Europe” against Kurdish “terrorism,” NZZ reports. Around 100 Turkish nationalists gather and were met by a counter demonstration of around 180 supporters of Kurdish independence and the prescribed group the PKK.
Local News provider Watson reports that the town center was sealed off and several bridges closed. Riot police used rubber bullets and peppers spray to separate the rival groups, who were angered by the ongoing conflict between their two ethnic groups in the Middle East.
The fatal attack was on a smaller, breakaway group on the edge of the rally, local media Blick reports. Videos loaded to social media show a black Mercedes accelerating into a group of Kurdish demonstrators, identifiable by their yellow PKK flags. Several people are struck and screaming is heard.
A spokeswoman for Canton Police confirmed to Watson that an “incident” involving a vehicle had occurred on Saturday afternoon. The driver had been detained but disruption in the town was ongoing when the spokeswoman addressed journalists at 18:00 local time.
The violence follows Thursday’s bloody clashes in Frankfurt, Germany between Kurds and Turks, which descended into a riot, and further reports of violent clashes between the two ethnic groups in Hannover today.