By Tony Wall
The police diplomatic protection squad is watching the Turkish consulate in Auckland after an angry mob of Kurds converged on the building yesterday.
More protests are planned for today by the Kurdish community, incensed at the arrest of their military leader Abdullah Ocalan, who faces terrorism charges and the death penalty in Turkey.
The Auckland protests are part of a worldwide outburst of anger. In Berlin yesterday protesters tried to storm Israel's consulate. Guards killed three of them and wounded up to 16 others.
The Turkish consulate in Auckland is housed in the Eastern Rug Gallery building in Newmarket.
A crowd of about 100 Kurds gathered there, chanting "Down Turkish, down Kenya, down Greece" in reference to countries involved in Ocalan's capture.
They also waved banners reading "Freedom for Ocalan" as well as pictures of him.
None in the crowd threatened to set themselves alight, as has happened in other protests around the world, but one young man worked himself into a frenzy and was dragged clear by police when he lay in the middle of the road.
Screaming "I want Ocalan" and waving his hands about wildly, he had to be restrained by about four of his colleagues.
Two plainclothes members of the diplomatic protection squad stood inside the door of the consulate during the hour-long protest. A spokesman said they would keep an eye on the situation and make decisions on security based on intelligence gathered.
The chairman of the Kurd New Zealand Society, Nezam Shaker, said almost the entire Auckland Kurdish community had turned up for the peaceful protest.
He said another protest would be held today and he could not rule out violence if something were to happen to Ocalan. "If he was killed we will do better than that."
He said people had set themselves on fire overseas to show their "100 per cent support" for Ocalan and the Kurdish cause. Many would willingly die for Ocalan.
"We are nothing without him."
A Kurdish political science student at Auckland University, Faisal Mohammad, said he was concerned for Ocalan's safety in the Turkish justice system.
Pictured: Members of the Kurdish community in Auckland chant their support for Abdullah Ocalan. PICTURE / FOTOPRESS
Kurdish protest action spreads to NZ
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