Police intervened at a protest on Place du Luxembourg in Brussels' European Quarter on Monday as skirmishes erupted among several demonstrators. The square was consequently evacuated by police.
A pro-Kurdish demonstration took place at Place du Luxembourg on Monday. Nearly 200 people gathered to criticise the European Union's approach towards the country's President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whom they referred to as "Turkey's dictator." There was no permission for the action, but the police tolerated it at first.
However, at around 13:30, several people became aggressive and fights soon broke out among the participants, the police reported. The square was cleared by the police with the help of water cannons. Bruzz reported that this was followed by fighting in the streets surrounding the square.
The demonstration began peacefully. Credit: Belga
The demonstration is thought to be a response to altercations on Sunday evening in Heusden-Zolder and Houthalen-Helchteren in the Limburg province. These confrontations involved individuals of Syrian-Kurdish origin, who were celebrating Nowruz, a Persian spring festival, and members of the Turkish community.
Earlier in the day in Houthalen-Helchteren, there were clashes between Kurds and Turks, resulting in at least one seriously injured person and five people with minor injuries.
Later in the evening at around 21:30, police in Limburg were called out to Heusden-Zolder, where a house full of people of Kurdish origin was targeted by hundreds of Turks.
'Even in the heart of Europe, we are not safe'
According to Arife Soysuren, organiser of the action and member of the 'Mouvement des femmes kurdes' (linked to the international movement 'Progressive International'), the action in Brussels was not necessarily about the riots, but about the premeditated attack by the Grey Wolves (an extreme right-wing Turkish nationalist organisation) on Kurds in Limburg.
"Families peacefully returning home after the spring festival were attacked by Turks for having Kurdish flags in the car," Soysuren said. "It is almost certain that the attack was planned. It is impossible to mobilise 100 men in ten minutes."
According to Soysuren, Erdoğan makes it a sport to persecute and intimidate Kurds abroad. "Even in the heart of Europe, we are not safe," she argued, adding that the Belgian State has remained silent. Soysuren therefore urged the EU to use its political power to ensure Turkey respects human rights, and to provide resources to the Kurdish community to secure their migration to Kurdish regions.
