Erdogan denounces Turkey protests as peace process ´sabotage´

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Thursday that the peace process with Kurdish rebels would not be derailed by "sabotage", after at least 27 people were killed in protests over the government´s policy on Islamic State (IS) militants.

Ankara has not intervened militarily against IS jihadists trying to take the mainly Kurdish town of Kobane just across the Syrian border, to the fury of Turkey´s Kurds.

Protesters in several cities in the southeast of the country with large Kurdish populations clashed with police for the fourth day running, in the worst outbreak of such violence in years.

The trouble has sparked fears that the standoff over Kobane could endanger talks between the government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers´ Party (PKK) fighting an insurgency for self-rule in southeast Turkey.

Erdogan blamed the unrest on the "dark forces" seeking to sabotage the delicate peace process to end 30 years of violence that has claimed at least 40,000 lives.

"It´s very obvious that this game is aimed at sabotaging the peaceful environment in the east and southeast as well as the peace process and our brotherhood," Erdogan said.

The latest deaths occurred Thursday evening in the southeastern province of Gaziantep where at least four people died in clashes between rival groups armed with rifles, pistols and axes, Dogan news agency reported.

In the southeastern province of Mardin, one protester was killed in scuffles with police.

Separately, in the eastern city of Bingol, two police officers and a guard were killed and the city´s police chief was wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them from a car.

The officers were out inspecting material damage from the demonstrations at the time but there was no immediate confirmation the attack was linked to the protests.