The European Union yesterday called on Turkey "urgently" to improve economic conditions and cultural rights for Kurds, after clashes between riot police and demonstrators left six people dead in the south-east of the country.

A spokesman for Olli Rehn, EU enlargement commissioner, said the EU was "very concerned" at the tensions in Diyarbakir, a city of 1m people on the River Tigris, which has been gripped by violence since Tuesday. George Parker, Brussels