Police have beaten and arrested dozens of people in Turkey as protestors attempted to celebrate Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, on 21 March. In Istanbul and in Mersin on the Eastern Mediterranean coast, 81 and 230 people respectively, are in police custody. They may be at risk of torture or ill-treatment. Two protestors, Mehmet Sen and Ömer Aydin, are reported to have died during the demonstrations in Mersin.
