At Least 4 Injured in Clashes between Turks, Kurds in Tokyo
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - At least four people were injured in scuffle between Turks and Kurds near the Turkish embassy in the Japanese capital of Tokyo, local media reported Sunday.
According to the Japanese NHK broadcaster, some 600 Turkish citizens both of Turkish and Kurdish origin came to the embassy to participate in the snap parliamentary elections, Sputnik News reported on Sunday.
Soon after the clashes broke out, Japanese police arrived at the accident site and took actions to reconcile the rival groups.
The snap parliamentary elections in Turkey are scheduled for November 1, but the overseas voters in different countries cast their ballots before this date.
The Kurds are Turkey's largest ethnic minority, comprising up to a quarter of the population. The Kurdish struggle for independence gave rise to a conflict between Turkey and various Kurdish militant groups that has been ongoing since 1984.
Tensions between two ethnic groups escalated again in mid-summer when Ankara launched a military campaign against the Kurdistan Workers' Party in northern Iraq, after that group claimed responsibility for the murders of two Turkish police officers.