TURKEY: Riot police detain protesters as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses mass rally of supporters

Record ID: 213988

  • Title: TURKEY: Riot police detain protesters as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses mass rally of supporters
  • Date: 16th June 2013
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (JUNE 16, 2013) (REUTERS) (AUDIO PART MUTE) WATER CANNON SPRAYING PROTESTERS IN SQUARE (AUDIO MUTE) PROTESTERS HIDING BEHIND A SUBWAY LIFT (AUDIO MUTE) WATER CANNON SPRAYING PROTESTERS IN SQUARE (AUDIO MUTE) WOUNDED BEING LOADED TO AMBULANCES (AUDIO MUTE) VARIOUS OF WATER CANNONS SPRAYING PROTESTERS PROTESTER HURLING STONE AT WATER CANNON RIOT POLICE FIRING SMOKE GRENADE ARMOURED VEHICLE MOVING/ SMOKE GRENADE CANISTERS ON ROAD RIOT POLICE FIRING SMOKE GRENADE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS BEING DETAINED ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JUNE 16, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF POLICE BACKED BY WATER CANNON AND ARMOURED VAN MARCHING DOWN STREET RIOT POLICE WITH RUBBER BULLET LAUNCHER ON TOP OF ARMOURED VAN PROTESTER RAISING TURKISH FLAG POLICE WALKING DOWN STREET PROTESTERS RETREATING DOWN STREET VARIOUS OF WOMAN STANDING IN FRONT OF THE ARMOURED VAN WITH A PURPLE FLAG/ SUPPORTERS CLAPPING POLICEMAN HOLDING RUBBER BULLET RIFLE ON TOP OF ARMOURED VAN PROTESTERS CHANTING AS ARMOURED VAN DRIVES BY VARIOUS OF POLICE ADVANCING ON PROTESTERS PROTESTERS CHANTING POLICE STANDING NEXT TO WATER CANNON SMOKE RISING IN STREET
  • Embargoed: 1st July 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Crime,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAZXQN4JKKU37KFKLZD34TRNNL
  • Story Text: Tens of thousands of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's supporters massed at a rally in Istanbul on Sunday (June 16) as riot police fired tear gas to break up pockets of anti-government protesters in the city centre several kilometres away.
    Riot police in Ankara also fired teargas and detained protesters to try and disperse hundreds of demonstrators blocking streets in the central Kizilay district, after first warning them through megaphones, a Reuters witness said.
    Protesters took to the streets in several neighbourhoods across Istanbul overnight, ripping up metal fences, paving stones and advertising hoardings to build barricades and lighting bonfires of trash in the streets.
    Erdogan has said the AK Party rallies in Ankara and Istanbul are meant to kick off campaigning for local elections next year and are not related to the protests, but they are widely seen as a show of strength in response to the demonstrations.
    The blunt-talking prime minister has long been Turkey's most popular politician, overseeing a decade of unprecedented prosperity, and his AK Party has won an increasing share of the vote in three successive election victories, but his critics complain of increasing authoritarianism.
    While the protests pose no immediate threat to his government, they have tarnished Turkey's image as a haven of stability in a turbulent Middle East.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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