Kurdish protesters have clashed with police in Turkey leaving at least 14 people dead and scores injured during demonstrations against the Islamic State (formerly known as Isis) group's advance on Kobani, a town on the Syrian-Turkish border.

Turkey's private Dogan news agency reported eight dead in the eastern city of Diyarbakir and said others died in cities in the mainly Kurdish east as police used water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters who burned cars and damaged businesses.

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A barricade burns near a Turkish police vehicle in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir AFP
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A branch of Halkbank burns after being set ablaze during clashes between Kurdish protesters and riot police in Diyarbakir in the mainly Kurdish southeastern part of Turkey Reuters
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Kurdish protesters set fire to a bank in Diyarbakir during a demonstration to demand intervention against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq AFP
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The facade of a bank is seen after it was burned by Kurdish protesters in Diyarbakir AFP

The activists are demanding more help for the besieged Kurdish forces struggling to hold on to Kobani. Some European countries are arming the Kurds, and the American-led coalition is carrying out air strikes against the Islamic extremists, but protesters say it isn't enough.

Protests were reported in cities across Turkey. Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse demonstrators in Istanbul, where one person was taken to hospital after being hit in the head by a gas canister.

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A Turkish riot police officer stands in clouds of tear gas in Istanbul as Kurdish demonstrators protest against a lack of action against IS AFP
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Riot police take up positions as they clash with protesters in Istanbul, during a demonstration in solidarity with the people of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani Reuters
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A protester holding a flag runs through clouds of tear gas in Ankara AFP
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Protesters throw stones at a police vehicle in Ankara AFP
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Police uses tear gas and water cannon in Ankara AFP
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Kurdish people throw stones at a Turkish armoured vehicle near the Turkish-Syrian border AFP
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A Kurdish man throws stones at a Turkish armoured vehicle firing tear gas as Turkish army soldiers try to remove people from the Turkish-Syrian border area AFP

Authorities declared a curfew in six towns in the southeastern province of Mardin.

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