Assaults against Turkish institutions

UNCLAS VIENNA 001557 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV TU AU SUBJECT: Assaults against Turkish institutions ¶1. Summary. Over the past days, Turkish institutions in Austria have been the subject of several assaults which are suspected to have been committed by Kurds protesting alleged mistreatment of former PKK leader Abdullah Oecalan who is imprisoned in Turkey. End Summary. ¶2. In the city of Salzburg, the Turkish consulate was the object of an arson attack in the early morning of Sunday, October 19. Two Molotov cocktails were thrown into the consulate at 4.30 a.m. No one was injured since the building was empty. Turkish consul in Salzburg Nesrin Bayazit said she suspects the assault to have been committed by the Kurdish PKK party, since the Turkish missions in Austria had received respective threats. Bayazit had asked Austrian authorities for enhanced police protection also for non-office hours, when the consular building is empty. This was, however, only provided after the assault. According to Austrian police, there were similar attacks in Switzerland in the course of the past days. ¶2. In the evening of October 19, an arson attack was directed against the club rooms of a Turkish association in Vienna's 17th district. At around 23.00, two Molotov cocktails were thrown into the club rooms. Nobody was injured; fire brigades extinguished the fire. ¶3. In the city of Graz, on October 19, shortly after midnight, a group of Kurds reportedly threw rocks at the club rooms of a Turkish association and cars parked in front of them. Reportedly, some 40 Kurds and Turks subsequently engaged in a fistfight. ¶4. On October 17, a group of 40 Kurds unsuccessfully attempted to enter the Vienna International Center to hand over a petition to protest the alleged mistreatment of the former PKK leader Abdullah Oecalan. On October 18, 300 demonstrators gathered at a protest march at the Turkish Embassy. The demonstration was peaceful. Girard-diCarlo