Riots, barricades, street battles as police fight protesters in Turkey...

Thousands of protesters in Istanbul clashed with police in the most violent rally Turkey has seen in years. Hundreds have been injured and dozens arrested in fierce rioting which the media has dubbed the Turkish Spring as it spreads across the country.

The protests in Turkey have entered their second day Saturday morning, with thousands of demonstrators in Istanbul and Ankara being teargased and targeted with water cannons by police.

The Friday morning police crackdown on peaceful Occupy-style protesters rallying against the demolition of a landmark park in Istanbul, have over the day and night grown into massive street battles with police using teargas and water cannons against thousands of demonstrators and rioting spilling over to other Turkish cities, including the capital Ankara, and the Aegean coastal city of Izmir.

 What started out as a protest against cutting down trees in the Istanbul Gezi Park turned into a broader demonstration against Prime Minster Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP), which the demonstrators accuse of having grown increasingly authoritarian. Full story...

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