A HOSPITAL official said yesterday that 11 people died in a prison riot by rebel Kurds. It erupted as Turkish forces pressed an offensive against Kurdish guerrillas in the eastern mountains in which 47 Kurds were reported killed.
A Diyarbakir hospital official said eight of the prison dead identified were members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). He said the riot was sparked by a protest against the government's failure to improve prison conditions after a hunger strike in July.
The European Parliament last week threatened to block millions of dollars of aid to Turkey because of its human rights record.
Meanwhile, senior figures in the People's Democracy Party (HADEP), Turkey's only legal Kurdish political party went on trial yesterday, charged with separatist activity. They face up to 22 years in jail.
HADEP was formed in 1994 after another Kurdish party was closed by the constitutional court for alleged separatism and 13 of its deputies expelled from parliament. Six Kurdish MPs were later jailed for PKK links.