12 injured in scuffle at Turkish vote in Tokyo embassy

Tokyo:  At least 12 people were injured in a scuffle between Turks and ethnic Kurds as hundreds of Turkish citizens gathered on Sunday at their embassy in Tokyo to vote in a general election, reports said.

TV footage showed police breaking up the fight outside the mission as voting for the November 1 election began early in the Japanese capital.

The injured included two police officers, Tokyo Broadcasting System said, adding that the cause of the fight was not immediately clear.

But Jiji Press, quoting a Turkish voter, said the clash began after Kurds tried to display the flag of a pro-Kurdish party.

"I was attacked by Turks all of a sudden while I was in a car with my friends," a Kurdish man whose shirt had been torn off told the broadcaster in front of the embassy, which was heavily guarded by police.

Some 3,600 Turkish nationals are resident in Japan, according to the country's foreign ministry.

The election comes at a time of escalating violence in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, despite a 2013 ceasefire in a three-decade insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the poll after his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its governing majority for the first time in June 7 elections, forcing it into coalition talks that ended in failure.

The AKP won three decisive general election victories in 2002, 2007 and 2011 but was stripped of its overall majority in June after losing support to a pro-Kurdish party.

The result damaged Erdogan's hopes of creating a powerful US-style presidency with full executive powers.