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Despite high security measures, protests across turkey continued for third consecutive day on Sunday.
Police used cannon water and tear gas to disperse protesters who have been demanding that the government halt its plans to build a shopping center on a city park in Istanbul.Officials said 53 civilians and 26 police officers were hurt during the violence, while Amnesty International put the number of wounded in the hundreds and said there had been two deaths.
Amnesty said some protesters had been left blinded by the massive quantities of tear gas and pepper spray used by police while at least two people were hit in the head with gas canisters.
Interior Minister Muammer Guler said police had detained 939 people as of Saturday evening, but many have been released.
On Saturday night, about 5,000 protesters surrounded Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's office in Istanbul’s Besiktas municipality, located on the European shore of the strait of Bosphorus, and threw stones, injuring at least seven policemen, Xinhua reported.
Earlier in the day, 100,000 demonstrators gathered in Taksim Square, demanding that Erdogan step down and calling the government "fascist."
Thousands of people also took to the streets of other Turkish cities, such as Ankara, Izmir, Mugla, and Antalya, in support of the protesters in Istanbul.
For his part, Erdogan said police had made "mistakes" in the force they have used, but has called for an end to the Istanbul protests.
He said Taksim Square "cannot be an area where extremists are running wild".
The protesters say Gezi Park in Istanbul is one of the few green spaces left in Istanbul, and that the government is ignoring their appeals for it be saved.
Their protest began with a small number of people staging a sit-in in the park at the start of the week. Then, following clashes with police the demonstration spiraled into widespread anti-government unrest.
Source: Agencies | 02-06-2013 - 13:51 Last updated 02-06-2013 - 14:49 |