DHAKA: The head of the pro-Kurdish opposition HDP has accused the ruling AKP of orchestrating nationalist attacks and pushing Turkey towards civil war.

No-one has been killed, but Selahattin Demirtas said ‘we are facing a campaign of lynching’, reports the BBC.

Violence between the army and the militant Kurdish PKK has escalated in eastern Turkey since a ceasefire collapsed in July.

Turkey is to hold elections in November after inconclusive polls in June.

As the atmosphere in Turkey becomes increasingly febrile, Demirtas questioned whether the vote could even go ahead while temporary military zones were in place in 100 areas of Turkey’s mainly Kurdish south-east.

He said there had been 400 attacks on HDP offices in two days.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu took to Twitter to denounce the attacks. ‘It is unacceptable to damage media institutions, political party buildings and the property of our civilian citizens,’ he said.

But Demirtas accused the prime minister and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of taking ‘the decision to start this war and intensify it’.

BDST: 2140 HRS, SEPT 09, 2015
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** Pro-Kurdish party HQ attacked in Turkey