Baku, Azerbaijan, March 12
Trend:
Turkish police have prevented the movement of protesters towards Istanbul's Taksim Square, Turkish Milliyet newspaper reported on March 12.
Following the funeral of 15-year-old Elvan Berkin in Istanbul, the protesters decided to head towards Taksim Square, which was closed down by the police.
The police, using water cannons and tear gas, tried to prevent the movement of protesters, who fled to nearby streets.
Last night there were mass protests in 32 Turkish cities over the death of the 15-year-old Elvan Berkin, who suffered a head injury during a rally in May last year.
The largest protests were observed in Istanbul and Ankara.
Anti-government protests took place in Turkey for nearly three weeks beginning in late May. Turkish oppositional parties accused the police of using excessive force against protestors.
In total, around 2.5 million people from 79 Turkish provinces participated in protests during the three weeks, according to Turkish Interior Ministry.
As a result of the unrests in Turkey, nearly 4,000 people were injured with varying severity, 4,900 were detained by the police.
Translated by E.A.