Tear gas against opposition protest in Turkey

TT

Published 13.53

 

Supporters of the Turkish opposition party CHP were met with water cannons and tear gas from the police on Tuesday. Photo: Erdem Sahin/AP/TT

Police in the Turkish capital Ankara have used tear gas and water cannons to disperse a protest called by opposition leader Özgür Özel.

Ahead of the demonstration, the authorities had ordered the closure of a square in the city's central parts and deployed riot police with water cannons, Turkish media report.

On Thursday, party leader Özgür Özel and the leadership of the CHP were removed from their posts, by a court decision that many consider politically motivated.

Over the past weekend, police stormed the party's headquarters in Ankara.

The offensive against the CHP began in earnest with the imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, Erdogan's main political rival and the party's presidential candidate.