Turkish human rights lawyer shot dead during press conference

A prominent lawyer and human rights defender, who faced a criminal charge for supporting Kurdish rebels, has been killed in an attack in south-east Turkey in which a police officer also died, officials said.

Tahir Elci was shot on Saturday while he and other lawyers were making a press statement. Two policemen and a journalist were also injured.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack and there were conflicting reports about what led to the incident.

Interior minister Efkan Ala and other officials said the assault was against police officers, and that Elci died in an ensuing clash. However, the Diyarbakir bar association said the lawyer, who was Kurdish, was the target of the attack.

Elci, 49, was the head of the bar association in the mainly Kurdish city and a human rights activist.

He was briefly detained and questioned last month for saying during a live news program that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, is not a terrorist organisation. Soon after, he was charged with making terrorist propaganda and was facing more than seven years in prison.