Istanbul police on Saturday used tear gas, water cannon and plastic bullets to break up a protest by hundreds of people against the arrest of pro-Kurdish Turkish deputies. The protestors demonstrated outside the main mosque in the Sisli district on the European side of the city shouting slogans denouncing the "fascist" state and vowing "we will not be silent".
But police rapidly moved in, dispersing the crowds by spraying torrents of freezing water from trucks, using tear gas and firing plastic bullets, AFP correspondents said. The protest came after nine MPs from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), including its two co-leaders, were jailed on Friday ahead of trial on terror charges.
Meanwhile, Istanbul courts on Saturday ordered the imprisonment of nine executives and editorial staff from the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper.
