Thousands gather in Diyarbakir to mourn death of Turkish lawyer

An RT broadcaster reporter fell victim to a tear gas attack by Turkish police during Kurd protests against the killing of a prominent Kurdish lawyer in the country’s southeastern Diyarbakir province, media reported Monday.

In the video, plain-clothes police standing near Elci are seen firing automatic pistols at gunmen fleeing the scene of the attack in Diyarbakir, the region’s largest city.

Hundreds of mourners follow a vehicle transports the coffin of killed Kurdish Lawyer Tahir Elci during his funeral the day after his assassination in Diyarbakir, on November 29, 2015. The death of Elci, who was the head of Diyarbakir Bar Association, triggered protests from Diyarbakir to Istanbul, where police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. Two policemen were also killed in the violence.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said it was unclear whether Elci was caught in crossfire or assassinated.

“In the place left by Tahir Elci, thousands more Tahir Elcis will carry on the work in the struggle for law and justice”, it said in a statement.

Reuters TV footage showed plain clothes police repeatedly shooting at a figure running past them toward Elci.

President Tayyip Erdogan, who founded the governing AK Party, has vowed to destroy Kurdish militant fighters since a ceasefire collapsed in July, reigniting a conflict in which some 40,000 people have died since it began in 1984.

Trudeau sought to tamp down fears that Elci’s killing could heighten domestic tensions in Turkey. On Sunday security forces continued operations to drive back the youth wing of the PKK, removing barricades and trenches, with occasional gunfire and explosions heard.

Members of the Diyarbakir Bar Association stood in front of the hospital from where the body was taken holding a banner stating: “We will not forget you”, in Turkish and Kurdish.

Elci’s brother Ahmet was convinced that the lawyer had been a target: “My brother is not our first martyr and neither will he be the last”, he said at the funeral. “The murderer state has to give an account”.