Turkish police have let off tear gas and pressurised water against groups of protesters trying to reach a main Istanbul square for a second day of anti-government demonstrations. Police also cracked down on hundreds of people trying to march toward Parliament in the capital, Ankara.
The protests grew out of anger at heavy-handed police tactics to break up a peaceful sit-in to protect a park in Istanbul's main Taksim square on Friday (Photos here). It turned into a wider protest against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seen as becoming increasingly authoritarian, and spread to other Turkish cities. A human rights group said hundreds of people were injured in scuffles with police that lasted through the night.
On Saturday, police clashed with several groups of youths trying to reach Taksim. Some threw stones at police.
Some 500 people marched along the Bosporus Bridge from Asian shore of the city, toward Taksim, on the European side, but were met with pressurized water and tear gas that filled the air in a thick coat of smoke.
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