Istanbul, October 08: Turkish riot police clamped down on anti-IMF protests in Istanbul for a second day in a row Wednesday.
Police used tear gas and water jets against about 300 people — mostly youths from leftist and anarchist groups — as soon as they started to march from the central Sisli neighbourhood to a nearby convention centre where the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank held their annual meeting.
“IMF, get out! This world is ours,” the demonstrators chanted as they unfurled a large banner reading “Long live revolution.”
Police chased the protesters and detained several of them.
A group of about 100 people fled into sidestreets, breaking the windows of several banks, a fast-food shop and a supermarket.
They then moved onto a nearby highway and briefly blocked traffic there, throwing stones at a police car. An officer inside the vehicle fired warning shots in the air.
Another policeman was seen falling from his motorcycle after the demonstrators pelted him with stones.
On Tuesday, about 100 people were taken in custody after a rally of about 2,000 people, organised by trade unions, turned violent.
Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler blamed the unrest on protesters “from illegal groups” and stressed that the police would not tolerate violence.
The IMF and the World Bank’s meetings in Istanbul ended.
—Agencies