Street battles in Turkey following death of anti-government protester

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Clashes in Ankara follow similar scenes in Istanbul, after the death of a protester who had lain in a coma since being hit by a tear-gas canister during anti-government demonstrations last June

Clashes erupted between demonstrators and police in Ankara on Wednesday, during an anti-government demonstration that drew thousands into the city's main intersection. The demonstration mirrored those on the streets of Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, where tens of thousands of people marched in a funeral procession for a Turkish teenager who has become a symbol of anti-government resistance. 15-year-old Berkin Elvan was wounded in street clashes last summer, but died on Tuesday after 269 days in a coma. He was reportedly on his way to buy bread when he was hit on the head by a police gas canister during civil unrest last summer. In a symbolic gesture, protesters in Ankara's Kizilay Square held loaves of bread whilst calling for the government to resign.

Their anger has been directed at Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who sanctioned the heavy-handed crackdown on last summer's protests and praised the police as heroes.