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The First Victim Falls in Protests in Turkey

A twenty-year-old Turk lost his life when a taxi driver crashed into a group of protesters on the highway in Istanbul during anti-government protests, in which he was also present, reported the Turkish Medical Association TBB on Monday, marking the first victim related to the protests, according to global agencies.

The victim is Mehmet Ayvalitas, and TBB leader Huseyin Demirduzen stated that four people were injured, one of whom seriously, reported Reuters.

Police in Ankara used tear gas on Monday afternoon to disperse around a thousand protesters on the fourth day of protests against the Turkish government, reported France Presse.

Law enforcement intervened when protesters, mostly students, gathered in the central Kizilay Square, where fierce clashes erupted on Sunday, resulting in many injuries. Protesters retaliated with stones against the police, who were dispersing them with water cannons.

According to Turkish media, around five hundred people were detained on Sunday during protests in that same square, a frequent site for demonstrations in the Turkish capital. In addition to protesting against the Prime Minister and the government, Turks also decided to protest on Monday against ‘biased media’. In Istanbul, about 3,000 people marched through the city, dissatisfied with the Turkish media’s reporting on the anti-government protests that have been shaking Turkey for four days.

‘The media is sold!’, ‘We do not want submissive media’, shouted the crowd gathered in front of the headquarters of the media group Dogus Holding, owner of the news network NTV. Print and television media in Turkey are largely controlled by conglomerates believed to be close to the Islamic-conservative government, which has been in power since 2002.

The Turkish Confederation of Public Service Unions (KESK) announced that it would hold a ‘warning strike’ on Tuesday and Wednesday, protesting against the suppression of anti-government protests over the past four days, reported Reuters.

– The state terror being carried out against participants in mass protests across the country … is yet another confirmation that the AKP government (AKP, Justice and Development Party) is an enemy of democracy – emphasizes in a statement the KESK confederation, which unites 11 unions with 240,000 members.