Shoe thrown at Turkish PM in Spain - PHOTOS

The incident happened as PM Erdogan was walking to his vehicle after a ceremony where he was was presented with an award due to his remarkable efforts to launch the Alliance of Civilizations initiative.

The man was promptly arrested by security guards after he threw the shoe and shouted “Long live Kurdistan!”.

Erdogan's government launched a Kurdish opening, hoping broadening Kurdish rights will help end the conflict with the outlawed PKK.

Erdogan received Seville NODO Foundation's award from Seville's Mayor Alfredo Sanchez Menteseirin during the ceremony in Seville.

He is now accused of attempted assault on a head of state.

Turkish media said the man is " a sympathizer of a terror organization", in a phrase that is used to define PKK in the media.

The reports added the suspect is of Syrian origin.

Several steps were carried out on issues such as the language used in visits to prisons and lifting the time limitation on TV and radio broadcasts in different languages.

More than 40,000 people have died since the PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.

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/World Bulletin/