Turkish police attack protesters on Syrian border

The Turkish police have attacked Kurdish demonstrators marching on the Syrian border to express solidarity with the Kurds in the Arab country, who have been under attack from foreign-backed militants.

On Sunday, the police fired teargas and used water cannons to disperse tens of thousands of protesters who held demonstrations in the city of Nusaybin in Mardin province and in Cizre in Sirnak province.

The demonstrations started peacefully but clashes broke out when the protesters marched on the Syrian border and some of the protesters crossed into the Arab country.

On December 13, foreign-sponsored militants in Syria reportedly kidnapped at least 120 Kurdish civilians from a village in the northwestern province of Aleppo.

The al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) extremists invaded Ihras, 20 kilometers south of the town of Azaz, and captured the villagers, including at least six women, and took them to an unknown location.

Since the end of July, the ISIL and al-Nusra Front, another al-Qaeda-linked group, have kidnapped several hundred Syrian Kurds, including women and children.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since March 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey — are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and a total of 7.8 million of others displaced due to the violence.