31 people dead, 351 injured during riots in Turkey

More than 1,000 protesters have been detained, 31 killed and 351 injured during riots in Turkey, which began as demonstrations in support of Syrian Kurds, who are defending the city of Kobani from the Islamic State (IS) militants, Turkish Interior Ministry Efkan Ala said Friday, according to RIA Novosti.

"According to the latest reports, 31 people have been killed in the riots and 351 injured, of which 139 are law enforcers. Some 1,024 people have been detained, 58 of them were arrested," the minister said at a press conference.

During the protests that took place in 35 provinces across the country, some 1,100 buildings were damaged, including schools, kindergartens, administrative buildings, and medical institutions. The rioters also torched 1,200 cars.

Efkan Ala said that the opposition parties, in particular, the Republican People's Party and the Kurdish People's Democratic Party, "instead of calming people down, have called for protests that are of no benefit to anyone." He added that there are forces trying to stop the process of the settlement of the Kurdish issue in Turkey.

The Turkish Interior Ministry said that the government and the country's security forces are doing everything they can to stabilize the situation as quickly as possible and minimize losses.

"According to reports, all the citizens who died in these riots are the victims of clashes between different groups of demonstrators, the police are not involved," Ala stressed.