Anti-government clashes in Turkey spread as protesters hold square
A man tries to throw away a tear gas back at the police during a demonstration against the demolition of Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park in Ankara, Turkey, June 2, 2013. Clashes erupted between demonstrators and the police when thousands of people held demonstration to protest the demolition of Istanbul's Taksim Gezi Park in cities across Turkey on Sunday. (Photo : Xinhua/NTV)
A demonstrator was killed Monday during a wave of protests in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul, the Turkish Doctors’ Union (TTB) said.
Mehmet Ayvalitas, 20, was hit by a car driver, who ignored warnings in demonstrations in Umraniye district, the TTB said.
Thousands of protesters gather for another rally at the Taksim square in Istanbul late Monday, June 3, 2013. Police in Turkey have used tear gas for a fourth day to disperse demonstrations that grew out of a sit-in to prevent the uprooting of trees at Istanbul's main square. Demonstrators are also venting pent-up resentment against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in office for 10 years. (Photo : AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
The victim, a member of Socialist Solidarity Platform, is the first confirmed death in protests that swept Turkey during the past days.
The union accused the government of conducting a provocative agenda, citing remarks of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who kept a hard line over demonstrations that were triggered after the police broke up a peaceful sit-in last week.
The TTB called on the Turkish government to pull back all police forces and release all those detained in the protests.
A total of 173 people were injured in clashes between protesters and policemen in the nationwide protests in the past week, according to Turkish authorities on Monday.
People run as a tear gas canister lands nearby as protesters and police clash in the city center in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, June 3, 2013. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday again dismissed street protests against his rule as actions organized by extremists, qualified them as a temporary blip, and angrily rejected comparisons with the Arab Spring uprisings. Appearing defensive and angry, and cutting a disconnected figure, he lashed out at reporters who asked whether the government had understood "the message" by protesters airing grievances or whether he would soften his tone. (Photo : AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler said at least 115 police officers and 58 protesters were injured in the demonstrations which were staged last week by a group of protesters in Istanbul Taksim’s Gezi Park to stand guard against the uprooting of trees.
The protests started as an environmental sit-in protest at Gezi Park in coastal city of Istanbul over plans to redevelop that part of Taksim Square, and then turned into anti-government demonstrations against Erdogan’s government.
Turkish protesters shout anti-government slogans as they clash with riot police at the main city square, Kizilay, in Turkish capital Ankara, Turkey, Monday, June 3, 2013. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday again dismissed street protests against his rule as actions organized by extremists, qualified them as a temporary bleep, and angrily rejected comparisons with the Arab Spring uprisings. Appearing defensive and angry, and cutting a disconnected figure, he lashed out at reporters who asked whether the government had understood "the message" by protesters airing grievances or whether he would soften his tone. (Photo : AP Photo)
In Istanbul, 100,000 people took to the streets over the weekend and clashed with riot police who fired tear gas.
For two days, thousands of people tried to attack the office of Erdogan in Istanbul with some windows broken by stones, and some protesters set fire to offices of the ruling Justice and Development Party.
In the meantime, clashes erupted between police and protesters in Istanbul’s Besiktas district in the early hours of Monday. <Xinhua/NEWSis>
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