Police estimated that between 1,000 and 1,300 people took part in a protest in Frankfurt on Saturday, while up to 3,000 demonstrated in downtown Munich on the same day. Police reported no trouble at either march.Germany has large Turkish and Kurdish immigrant communities. At the end of October, Turkish and Kurdish groups clashed following a protest in Berlin, prompting 15 arrests, but other demonstrations have passed peacefully.
The demonstrations come as Turkish troops are poised for a possible cross-border offensive against PKK hideouts in northern Iraq. A series of ambushes by PKK members since Sept. 29 has killed nearly 50 people, primarily soldiers.
Also on Saturday about 1,200 people protested peacefully in Vienna against a possible Turkish offensive in northern Iraq targeting the PKK, police said. The protesters, mostly Kurds, assembled at the State Opera and wound their way through wind and rain toward the Turkish embassy.
The march was organized by the Federation of Kurdish Associations in Austria (FEYKOM). FEYKOM official Mevlut Küçüksayar said the aim of the demonstration was to call for a peaceful end to tensions between Ankara and the PKK, as well as for more rights for Kurds living in Turkey.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by a large majority of the international community, including the US and the EU, of which Austria and Germany are members.
Benzer Haberler 
National
