10,000 Mourn as Anti-Government Clashes Grip Istanbul
Ten thousand mourners marched through Istanbul on Friday to honor a man killed by crossfire in clashes between police and anti-government protesters, as fresh running battles the shook city's streets.
Riot police clad in heavy body armor used tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds as rioters blocked roads and burned tires in the second day of demonstrations, said an Agence France Presse photographer on the scene.
A second person died from injuries on Friday after being hit by a grenade explosion during violent clashes overnight Thursday, Istanbul governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu said.
Meanwhile some 10,000 people flocked to the funeral of the first victim of the clashes, Ugur Kurt, chanting "Murderer state" and "You will be accountable to us."
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended the police's actions, branding the demonstrators "terrorists."
"I don't understand how police can maintain their patience," during an address to his party lawmakers on Friday.
"When these terrorists are smashing windows, how can police wait with their hands tied?"
Demonstrators have taken to the street to vent their anger over last week's mine disaster in the western town of Soma and to commemorate the death of a teenage boy from injuries sustained during anti-government unrest last year.
Mutlu blamed masked and armed groups for seeking to sow chaos in Turkey's financial capital. At least eight police officers and another person have already been injured in the clashes, he said.
In the restive Okmeydani district, which has been the scene of sporadic clashes, some 10,000 people flocked to mourn Kurt who died from gunshot wounds to the head.
The father-of-one was attending a funeral in a house of worship belonging to the Alevi branch of Islam when he was caught in the crossfire of clashes between police and some 50 protesters.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc on Thursday said may have come from an errant shot fired by a police officer.
"The police are terrorizing this country," Simay, a young woman at the scene, told Agence France Presse.
"He came to bury someone yesterday and he will be buried today," protesters shouted as they marched through the streets.
Video footage showing Kurt falling to the ground in a pool of blood has gone viral on social media websites, sparking renewed outrage on the streets of the Okmeydani, home to the minority Alevi community.
Tensions are high with the approach of the first anniversary of deadly nationwide anti-government protests and in the wake of a mine disaster that claimed 301 lives last week.
The mine tragedy -- the worst in the country's history -- has caused a new wave of fury against Erdogan's government ahead of an expected run for the presidency in August.
Erdogan faced calls to cancel a pre-election address in Germany on Saturday from across Berlin's political spectrum amid concerns that the visit could provoke tension within the country's large Turkish community.
"I'm counting on the fact that he'll do this (appearance) on Saturday with a sense of responsibility and sensitivity," Chancellor Angela Merkel told Thursday's Passauer Neue Presse newspaper.
For the first time, some 2.6 million Turks living abroad -- including 1.5 million in Germany alone -- will be able to cast their votes in the August presidential vote.
Germany's Alevi community has called an anti-Erdogan demonstration on the day for Cologne, accusing him of seeking to "polarize" Turks.
Eight people died because of anti-government unrest that erupted in 2013 when police cracked down on a peaceful campaign to save a small Istanbul park from redevelopment.
The protests, which also left 8,000 people wounded, soon snowballed into a campaign against the perceived authoritarian tendencies of the Islamic-rooted government.
Source: Agence France Presse
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