Thousands gathered on streets in Turkey against government
Ankara: Thousands of people took to the streets in Turkey’s four biggest cities on Sunday on anti-government protests.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan blamed the main secular opposition party for inciting the crowds, whom he called “a few looters”, and said the protests were aimed at depriving his ruling AK Party of votes as elections begin next year.
“A large majority of the detainees were released after being questioned and identified,” he said in remarks carried by a state-run news agency. He added that the country had seen 235 demonstrations since Tuesday.
The minister also warned against “misinformation being spread on social media,” denying claims by rights groups and on social media websites that several people had been killed.
He said 58 civilians and 115 security officers had been wounded, while rights groups say hundreds of people have been hurt.
Authorities say almost 100 police vehicles, 94 shops and dozens of cars have been damaged since Friday. The total damage to property is estimated at more than 20 million liras (over eight million euros), according to Guler.
