Turkish police clash with crowds at Kurdish teacher protest

Turkish police on Friday fired tear gas and water cannon on hundreds of demonstrators in the Kurdish-majority southeast protesting against the suspension of more than 10,000 teachers for suspected links to militants, an AFP journalist reported.

About 200 protesters, including affected teachers, gathered in front of the education directorate in Diyarbakir, whistling and shouting slogans, in protest of the suspensions which targeted educators mainly from the region. 

"We will win by resisting!" and "Shoulder to shoulder against fascism!" the group shouted. 

The police called the demonstration "illegal" and urged protesters to disperse before using tear gas and water cannon when the group kept on their protest across the road.

At least 30 protesters were arrested by police, according to the AFP news agency.

Turkey on Thursday suspended 11,500 teachers suspected by the education ministry of having engaged in activities in support of the outlawed PKK, which is listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies.

Suleyman Guler, the provincial head of the education union, Egitim-Sen, told Reuters the confrontation was "an attack on our unionised struggle". 

"It is not possible to accept this decision. There is neither a crime here nor a criminal. We call for the immediate halt of this move," he said.

A Turkish official said the teachers were placed on paid leave until a formal investigation was concluded.

The suspension came just over a week before the new school year gets under way in Turkey.

The Turkish military is fighting the PKK in the southeast and in northern Iraq, after the rupture of a ceasefire last year. 

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the PKK first took up arms in 1984.