Ankara - Two people were injured in an explosion in the south-eastern Turkey city of Hakkari Saturday, a day before Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was scheduled to visit the city, the Anadolu news agency reported.

The cause of the explosion at the Hakkari offices of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) was not immediately known.

Tensions in the predominantly Kurdish-populated south-east Turkey have been high in recent weeks with a number of protests against the government ahead of local elections next year.

Erdogan on Saturday was in the city of Van where protesters shouting separatist and pro-Kurdish Workers' Party slogans clashed with police. A small number of injuries were reported.

Ankara blames the separatist group for the deaths of more than 35,000 people since the early 1980s when the PKK began its fight for independence or autonomy for the mainly Kurdish-populated south-east of Turkey.

The PKK is considered by the United States and the European Union to be a terrorist group. (dpa)