By Ivan Watson and Gul Tuysuz, CNN
June 3, 2013 — Updated 2146 GMT (0546 HKT)
Istanbul (CNN) — Protesters seething over their treatment by security forces hurled rocks at riot police in Ankara’s Kizilay Square on Monday, the latest in a string of violent clashes that have punctuated massive anti-government demonstrations spreading across Turkey — leaving thousands injured and at least one dead in the past two days alone.
The protests united demonstrators from across the political spectrum against a common foe: security forces who unleashed tear gas and water cannons on them in response to what had been largely peaceful protests against the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“There has been unprecedented violence against protesters and social protest,” demonstrator Neslihan Ozgunes said Monday.
The Turkish Medical Association claimed that at least 3,195 people had been injured in clashes Sunday and Monday. Only 26 of them were in serious or critical condition, it said. One protester, Mehmet Ayvalitas, died of his injuries, the association said.
- Medical group: More than 3,000 are wounded in two days of clashes
- The protests are the biggest movement against the prime minister in his decade in power
- Hundreds have been detained across Turkey, with most released, a local agency says