Protests 'no Turkish Spring', says PM Erdogan
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the continuing anti-government protests do not constitute a Turkish Spring.
At a news conference before a trip to Morocco, he said the
protests were organised by extremists and accused the opposition of
provoking "his citizens".
For a fourth night, there have been confrontations between police and protesters with tear gas being used
.
A protester has died after being hit by a taxi on Sunday, doctors say - the first fatality since the unrest began.
The demonstrator, 20-year-old Mehmet Ayvalitas, was hit when
the car ignored warnings to stop and ploughed into a crowd of protestors
in the Mayis district of Istanbul, said the Turkish Doctors' Union.
On Monday evening, thousands of demonstrators again gathered in Taksim Square, the focus of the recent protests.
A helicopter, its searchlight shining onto the crowd, hovered
overhead and tear gas wafted into the square, reports the BBC's Paul
Mason in Taksim Square.
Many protesters shouted "Tayyip, resign!" while waving red
flags and banners and blowing whistles, according to the AFP news
agency.
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Police also fired tear gas again to disperse protesters near Mr Erdogan's office in the Besiktas district of Istanbul.
Earlier on Monday, protesters clashed with police in the
capital, Ankara. Tear gas and water cannon were fired at hundreds of
demonstrators in the city as around 1,000 protesters converged on
central Kizilay Square.
In another development, a public sector trade union
confederation, Kesk, says it will begin a two-day strike starting on
Tuesday in support.
The left-wing confederation accused the government of being anti-democratic and carrying out "state terror".
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