At least 12 people have been killed during pro-Kurdish demonstrations in Turkey amid claims the country is not doing enough in the fight against Islamic State jihadists.

According to reports, five people have been killed in Diyarbakir, the largest town in Turkey's majority-Kurdish southeast region. Several other deaths were recorded in other southeastern towns, including three in Mardin, two in Siirt, one in Batman and another in Mus.

Police have also used tear gas and water cannons to disperse angry protests in Istanbul and Ankara.

Turkish Interior Minister Efkan Ala accused the pro-Kurdish protesters of "betraying their own country".

"Violence will be met with violence," he said.

"This irrational attitude should immediately be abandoned and (the protesters) should withdraw from the streets."

The demonstrations called by the main pro-Kurdish party, the People's Democratic Party (HDP), stem from claims that Ankara is failing to intervene militarily against IS jihadists fighting for the Syrian border town of Kobani.

Fresh coalition airstrikes have targeted fighters around the town, where some 400 people are believed to have been killed and thousands displaced during weeks of fighting.

Irish aid agency Concern will today make a case to Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs for more Irish aid to help those affected by the Syrian conflict.

Committee Chairman Pat Breen said the EU needs to take a more coherent approach to the refugee crisis: