Battles between protesters and police continue unabated across country
(14 Sep 2013) Street battles between protesters and police continued across Turkey on Saturday night, as demonstrators took to the streets for a sixth night running. In Hatay, police used water cannons to disperse protesters who continued to show their anger against the death of a young local man under disputed circumstances earlier in the week. Ahmet Atakan, a minority Shiite, was killed during a protest in the southern city of Antakya. The death of the 22-year-old has ignited demonstrations nationwide yet again. In the capital Ankara, demonstrators gathered in the Tuzlucayir neighbourhood to protest against the construction of a cultural centre that is to house both a Sunni mosque and an Alevi cemevi. Police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse the protesters. The minority Alevi are Shiite Muslims, and the government's plans to construct a cemevi, or prayer house, side-by-side with a Sunni mosque have sparked criticism that the state is trying to control the Alevi community. Anti-government sentiment in Ankara had already been inflamed by Atakan's death. The protester's death, and the planned cultural centre, have renewed a protest movement that had cooled after thousands took to the streets in June in an expression of discontent against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
