Turkish police use tear gas as 800 protesters gather in Istanbul
ISTANBUL - Turkish police on Tuesday fired tear gas and water cannons against hundreds of protesters who took to the streets to condemn the deadly suicide attack in a border town, an AFP photographer reported.
A crowd of 800 demonstrators gathered at Kadikoy on the Asian side of Istanbul to denounce the attack in the Kurdish-majority town of Suruc near the Syrian border.
The bomb attack blamed on the Islamic State (IS) killed 32 people, mostly young activists.
"Murderer state will be brought to account," the protesters shouted.
In an earlier demonstration in the district of Sisli on the European side of Istanbul, police detained dozens of protesters who chanted anti-government slogans.
In the Kurdish-majority town of Nusaybin on the border with Syria, police fired tear gas at protesters, injuring a 55-year-old woman, the private Dogan news agency reported.
On Monday, Middle East Eye's Alex MacDonald was taking photographs and video at an anti-government protest in Istanbul that police broke up with tear gas.
Turkey's Kurds have been frustrated by the government's failure to stop the militant group which has seized chunks of land in Iraq and Syria right up to the Turkish border.
The pro-Kurdish HDP party has blamed the government for a security and intelligence vacuum in relation to Monday's bombing - charges dismissed by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
"Turkey has always taken measures against Daesh and similar kind of organisations," Davutoglu said Monday, using an Arabic acronym for the IS group.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
