Turkey police attack protesters near PM office

Turkey police have used tear gas and water cannons to disperse hundreds of protesters in the capital city, Ankara, as they tried to march toward the high-security office of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Around 1,000 protesters gathered at downtown Kizilay Square on Sunday, the third day of demonstrations against Erdogan’s government, demanding his resignation.

On Saturday, about 5,000 protesters surrounded Erdogan’s office in Istanbul and hurled stones at the building.

A similar anti-government demonstration was held in Istanbul’s Taksim Square despite violent government crackdown in the past two days.

Istanbul has been the scene of anti-government protests since Friday after security forces attacked a peaceful four-day sit-in by environmental activists against the demolition of Gezi Park at Taksim Square.

The tough police response to park protesters sparked mass anti-government demonstrations in nearly 50 other cities, including the capital Ankara, Izmir, Mugla and Antalya. The protesters condemned the Turkish government as a “fascist government” and called Erdogan a new “Sultan.”

Turkey Interior Minister Muammer Guler said on Sunday that 939 people were arrested in more than 90 separate demonstrations around the country.

Amnesty International has criticized Turkey’s police use of excessive force against the demonstrators, describing it “disgraceful.”

According to the group, at least two people have been killed and more than a thousand others injured in Istanbul alone. It also said that some protesters have been left blinded by the massive quantities of tear gas used by the police.