Demonstrations to mark the 12th anniversary of the capture of Kurdish leader Abdulla Ocalan as a result of an international conspiracy on 15 February 1999, ended with a sour balance. According to the latest reports five people including two children were arrested in Adana. In Istanbul the number of arrests rose to twenty-nine, while three people were arrested in Erciþ district of Van. Twenty-four detainees out of thirty-four are waiting for trial in Van.

In addition, the Istanbul Police Department carried out a new operation in Maltepe and Kartal districts and detained eleven people charged with being members of an illegal organization, DHKP-C.

Police in many cases attacked the demonstrations. The latest police intervention occurred in Idil where Kurds were protesting against the police brutality during the demonstrations and one more time, the police used gas bombs and pressured waters as they tried to disperse the protestor.

Despite all the violence there was one good news from the region. Twelve-year-old F.S. who was injured by a police gas bomb during the march for Mustafa Malçok who set himself ablaze in Diyarbakir, was discharged from the hospital.