Thousands of Kurds have taken to the streets across Europe in support of Abdullah Ocalan, leader of Turkey's rebel Kurdish group, the PKK.

Mr Ocalan was detained in Rome last Thursday while trying to enter Italy with a false passport; Turkey has been pressing for his extradition.

Mr Ocalan's arrest and Ankara's demands for his extradition have galvanised Europe's substantial-and vocal- Kurdish community into action.

Thousands of Kurds marched through Rome on Tuesday in the largest protest so far in support of Mr Ocalan's demand for political asylum. Wellwishers have camped outside the hospital where he's believed to be held.

Thousands of Kurds are said to have turned out for rallies in Germany, where there's a large Kurdish community. And there've also been demonstrations in Vienna, London and Armenia.

Kurdish hungerstrikes are underway in Germany, Austria, Britain, Lebanon, Bulgaria and Russia.

Remiz Akkush: One of two Kurds injured after they set light to themselves in Moscow

In Moscow, where Mr Ocalan recently unsuccessfully asked for political asylum, two Kurds were hospitalised after dousing themselves with petrol and setting themselves alight.

Their protest mirrored similar gestures in Turkish prisons, where more than 20 PKK prisoners have tried to set themselves alight since Turkish pressure forced Mr Ocalan to flee his long term base in Syria last month.

Elsewhere in Turkey, pro PKK protests turned violent. An attack on a southeastern police station by a female suicide bomber killed the woman herself and wounded six others.