Turkish police use tear gas to disperse protesters

Turkish police have used tear gas against thousands of anti-government protesters in Istanbul as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to break the hands of “plotters”.

Clashes erupted between protesters and police in Kadikoy Square, in an echo of protests in the city earlier this year.

In a northern town Erdogan denounced people he said were setting anti-Turkish “traps” to undermine his rule.

The sons of two cabinet ministers have been charged in a big corruption probe. The investigation has led to charges against 24 people so far. They are suspected of involvement in bribery, in connection with urban development projects and the allocation of construction permits.

In Istanbul protesters chanted “everywhere is bribery, everywhere is corruption”. It was an echo of the Taksim Square mass protest this summer, when opposition activists chanted “everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance”.

Police on Sunday used tear gas and water cannon to disperse them in streets where protesters had set fire to makeshift barricades.

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