Ankara protesters clash with Turkish police

Police in the Turkish capital Ankara have used tear gas and water cannon on demonstrators as anti-government protests get into a second week. About 5,000 people had gathered in Kizilay Square in the city centre. Protesters and police also clashed in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city. Turkey has seen a week of civil unrest sparked by a police crackdown on a local protest over an Istanbul park. Earlier, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruled out early elections. "You don't decide on early elections because people are marching on the streets," he said. Local and presidential elections would take place next year as scheduled, said an official from Mr Erdogan's governing AKP (Justice and Development Party). A general election is due in 2015. The AKP has been in power in Turkey since 2002. Protesters say the government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and imposing Islamist values on a secular state. In Istanbul, supporters of three rival football clubs - Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Besiktas - set aside their differences to march together to Taksim Square, the epicentre of the protests. "We're here against fascism, all together, shoulder to shoulder. Actually we should be thanking Tayyip Erdogan for bringing us together. He united the entire country [against him]," an unnamed Fenerbahce supporter told the Associated Press.The protests mushroomed after police cracked down on activists defending an Istanbul park from developers. Mr Erdogan has called the protests undemocratic but his deputy apologised for police violence and met representatives of the protesters. On Thursday night, thousands of people waited at the airport to welcome Mr Erdogan home from a North African visit - the first major show of support for him since the protests began. The prime minister has vowed to push ahead with the redevelopment of Gezi Park, a rare green space in Istanbul's densely built-up core. Police and riot vehicles withdrew from Taksim Square last Saturday in an apparent bid to reduce tension. However, clashes have broken out since then in other parts of Istanbul. Four people - including a police officer - are reported to have died, thousands have been injured and hundreds arrested in the unrest which began on 31 May.