TURKEY: Riot police fire rubber bullets and use water cannon on protesters in Istanbul after the death of 15-year-old boy who was hurt during anti-government demonstrations last summer

Record ID: 872934

  • Title: TURKEY: Riot police fire rubber bullets and use water cannon on protesters in Istanbul after the death of 15-year-old boy who was hurt during anti-government demonstrations last summer
  • Date: 11th March 2014
  • Summary: BESIKTAS, ISTANBUL, TURKEY (MARCH 11, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CROWD DEMONSTRATING PROTESTERS HOLDING UP BANNER WITH PHOTO OF BERKIN ELVAN AND CHANTING ANTI-GOVERNMENT SLOGANS VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS HOLDING PHOTOS OF BERKIN ELVAN ALOFT AND CHANTING VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS APPLAUDING AND MARCHING TAKSIM, ISTANBUL, TURKEY (MARCH 11, 2014) (REUTERS) RIOT POLICE MARCHING VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING RIOT POLICE GUARDING WITH SHIELDS WATER CANNONS SPRAYING VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS RUNNING AWAY VARIOUS OF RIOT POLICE CHASING PROTESTERS / WATER CANNON SPRAYING POLICE FIRING RUBBER BULLETS
  • Embargoed: 26th March 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • City:
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAJJFNVOS44DV3DFMC26MJ6JA5
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Protesters clashed with police in Turkey's two biggest cities on Tuesday (March 11) after the death of a 15-year-old boy who was hit in the head by a tear-gas canister during anti-government demonstrations last summer.
    Police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds in Istanbul and Ankara, the latest pre-election headache for Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, already battling a graft scandal which has become one of the biggest challenges of his decade in power.
    Berkin Elvan, then 14, got caught up in street battles in Istanbul between police and protesters on June 16 while going to buy bread for his family. He slipped into a coma and became a rallying point for government opponents, who held regular vigils at the hospital where he lay in intensive care.
    Elvan was the sixth person to die in violence during nationwide protests in late May and June over Erdogan's plans to bulldoze an Istanbul park. The protests turned into one of the biggest shows of public defiance of Erdogan's 11-year rule.
    On Tuesday evening, police fired water cannon and tear gas in Ankara's central Kizilay square to scatter several thousand protesters who chanted: "Government of Erdogan, government of corruption, resign resign". The police pursued the protesters into sidestreets where small clashes continued.
    Earlier, police broke up a crowd of more than 2,000 people, mainly students from Ankara's Middle East Technical University (ODTU), who blocked a highway to protest against Elvan's death.
    There was similar police intervention against hundreds of protesters in central Istanbul, one of dozens of places across Turkey where posts on social media had called for protests on Tuesday evening.
    Istanbul and Ankara have both seen protests in recent weeks against what demonstrators regard as Erdogan's authoritarian reaction to the graft scandal, which has included new laws tightening Internet controls and handing government greater influence over the appointment of judges and prosecutors.
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