JINHA

WAN - Police attacked the Xaçort neighborhood of the largely Kurdish city of Van, leaving Van Parliamentary representatives under clouds of tear gas.

Police attacked a group of Parliamentary representatives in Van province yesterday as they took part in a vigil against police violence. Police had opened fire on Xaçort with live ammunition the day before. Parliamentary representatives Yurdusev Özsökmenler, Tuğba Hezer, Lezgin Botan, Selami Özyaşar and Remzi Özgökçe had headed to the neighborhood to stand watch against further attacks.

The Parliamentary representatives began to hold a vigil yesterday evening. That was when police attacked, targeting representative Lezgin Botan with a tear gas capsule to the head. The gas capsule wounded Lezgin in the eye.

The representatives contacted the governor of the province about the incident. Police withdrew, distributing tear gas as they went. Police pulled back from the area where representatives were standing vigil. However, clashes continued elsewhere in the neighborhood.

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