As night descended on the Turkish city of Istanbul, the violent clashes which have gripped the Okmeydanı district for two days showed no signs of subsiding.
Protesters hurled petrol bombs while police responded with rubber bullets and water cannon.
The unrest comes as the anniversary of last year’s anti-government protests approaches, and the prime minister did little to mitigate the situation saying the demos were against the country itself and that the police had shown patience.
His words may further fuel the anger of the demonstrators who were also mourning the deaths of two civilians killed during protests on Thursday, one of whom was bystander, Ugur Kurt who was killed by a stray bullet whilst attending a funeral nearby. His own funeral, which took place on Friday, was attended by hundreds of mourners.
Members of the Alevi community to which Kurt belonged have called for their own demonstration to be held on Sunday.
