VZCZCXRO0515
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHVI #1557 2951406
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211406Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY VIENNA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1134
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1209

UNCLAS VIENNA 001557 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV TU AU
SUBJECT: Assaults against Turkish institutions 
 
¶1. Summary.  Over the past days, Turkish institutions in Austria 
have been the subject of several assaults which are suspected to 
have been committed by Kurds protesting alleged mistreatment of 
former PKK leader Abdullah Oecalan who is imprisoned in Turkey.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. In the city of Salzburg, the Turkish consulate was the object of 
an arson attack in the early morning of Sunday, October 19. Two 
Molotov cocktails were thrown into the consulate at 4.30 a.m. No one 
was injured since the building was empty. Turkish consul in Salzburg 
Nesrin Bayazit said she suspects the assault to have been committed 
by the Kurdish PKK party, since the Turkish missions in Austria had 
received respective threats. Bayazit had asked Austrian authorities 
for enhanced police protection also for non-office hours, when the 
consular building is empty. This was, however, only provided after 
the assault.  According to Austrian police, there were similar 
attacks in Switzerland in the course of the past days. 
 
¶2.  In the evening of October 19, an arson attack was directed 
against the club rooms of a Turkish association in Vienna's 17th 
district.  At around 23.00, two Molotov cocktails were thrown into 
the club rooms. Nobody was injured; fire brigades extinguished the 
fire. 
 
¶3.  In the city of Graz, on October 19, shortly after midnight, a 
group of Kurds reportedly threw rocks at the club rooms of a Turkish 
association and cars parked in front of them.  Reportedly, some 40 
Kurds and Turks subsequently engaged in a fistfight. 
 
¶4.  On October 17, a group of 40 Kurds unsuccessfully attempted to 
enter the Vienna International Center to hand over a petition to 
protest the alleged mistreatment of the former PKK leader Abdullah 
Oecalan.  On October 18, 300 demonstrators gathered at a protest 
march at the Turkish Embassy.  The demonstration was peaceful. 
 
Girard-diCarlo