COLOGNE, GERMANY: Hundreds of
Kurds took to the streets of Cologne on Saturday in
protest over Turkey´s
offensive in northern Syria, as German officials warned against tensions between the country´s huge Kurdish and
Turkish communities.The protest, which organisers expect will see up to 20,000 participants, came a week after
Turkish special forces and allied Syrian rebels launched an assault targeting Kurdish militia the People´s Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria. ?Freedom for Kurdistan? and ?Shame on you, Europe!? read some of the protesters´ placards in the western German city. As the
protest got under way, police put the number of demonstrators at 1,000, while an AFP journalist put the figure at several thousand.
Germany is home to some one million
Kurds and three million people of
Turkish origin. Scuffles have erupted between members of the two communities since Turkey launched its ?Olive Branch? campaign, with several
Turkish mosques in
Germany hit by acts of vandalism. According to Cologne police chief Uwe Jacob, the ?risks of conflict (at the protest) are considerable?.
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