Car driver provokes Turks on Koolmijnlaan with PKK hand gesture (Heusden-Zolder)

Emotions heated up again on Koolmijnlaan in Heusden-Zolder in the late afternoon on Monday after, according to initial reports, a driver in a car with a German license plate made the PKK hand gesture as he passed. The car was crushed and the driver was removed from the car.

After the serious riots on Sunday evening, in which at least six people were injured, peace was not completely restored in Heusden-Zolder on Monday. Around 4:30 p.m., people on Koolmijnlaan saw how the driver of the car with a German license plate made the PKK hand gesture – index and middle fingers in the air. For the Turks this was like a red rag to a bull. The car was crushed and the driver was rescued. The police quickly arrived on the scene and took the driver to the police station.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people flocked there. According to the police, it mainly concerns people from their own municipality and they are talking to keep it quiet. The Pastoor Paquaylaan and the Kleuterweg are now closed. The police took up position with water cannon.

On Sunday afternoon, after the celebration of the Kurdish spring festival Newroz, a conflict arose when five cars with flags of the Kurdish PKK drove around on Koolmijnlaan. Images showed the occupants driving by with their middle fingers raised. A Turkish young man was also allegedly tackled by Kurds from the convoy. A large group of Turks then gathered in Kolderstraat, where the Kurds had hidden in a house. The Turks wanted to storm the house, broke windows and destroyed cars. (zb/mm)