DHAKA: Turkish police have used tear gas to disperse demonstrators in Istanbul and Ankara on the first anniversary of deadly anti-government protests.
Some 25,000 police surrounded and blocked Istanbul’s Taksim Square, the epicentre of the 2013 rallies.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier urged youths to not join Saturday’s protests.
Protests against plans to redevelop Gezi Park in Istanbul turned into mass rallies against PM Erdogan last year after a heavy-handed police response.
A number of people were killed in the unrest, with thousands more injured.
A 64-year-old woman, who fell into a coma after inhaling tear gas during another crackdown on protesters in the capital in December, died on Friday.
BDST: 1537 HRS, JUNE 01, 2014
