Turkey PM calls for immediate end to protests as clashes flare


A demonstrator throws a tear gas canister back at riot police during an anti-government protest in central Istanbul June 1, 2013. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called for an immediate end on Saturday to the fiercest anti-government demonstrations for years, as thousands of protesters clashed with riot police in Istanbul and Ankara for a second day.

The unrest was triggered by government plans for a replica Ottoman-era barracks housing shops or apartments in Istanbul's Taksim Square, long a venue for political protest, but has widened into a broader show of defiance against Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).

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