Kurdistan protesters at railway station

UP TO 50 protesters took to Cardiff Central railway station yesterday just a day after services were delayed across Wales due to a mass protest in Manchester.

Police say they were made aware of a protest planned for the city railway station and were met with a group of up to 50 protesters on arrival. They could be heard chanting loudly and waving flags inside the railway station.

Kurdistan Solidarity Campaign posted on Facebook yesterday to say an emergency Afrin protest would be held in Cardiff at about noon.

Its Facebook pages says The Kurdistan Solidarity Campaign was formed in spring 2017 and “aims to be a broad-based campaign, affiliated with trade unions, civil society groups and the labour movement in order to promote the cause of a free and democratic Kurdistan”.

Chief Inspector Jonathan Cooze, of British Transport Police, said: “Working closely with senior managers from Arriva Trains Wales, we were able to ensure the protesters didn’t put themselves – or anyone else – in danger, and there was no disruption to the rail network.

“We always respect the right to peaceful protest. Our officers liaised with the group throughout and, following a brief protest, they left the station at around 2.20pm. No arrests were made and the station remained open.”

It came after a mass protest at Manchester Piccadilly train station caused major delays across Wales on Sunday.

More than 100 people stormed the tracks to stop all services in and out of the station.

Arriva Trains Wales experienced severe delays across its services to Cardiff, Holyhead and Swansea as a result.

The protest was organised by Manchester’s Kurdish community in response to the Turkish government’s action in northern Syria.