Istanbul clashes as Turkey PM Erdogan condemns 'plot'

Turkish police have used tear gas against thousands of anti-government protesters in Istanbul as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to break the hands of "plotters".

Clashes erupted between protesters and police in Kadikoy Square, in an echo of protests in the city earlier this year.

In a northern town Mr Erdogan denounced people he said were setting anti-Turkish "traps" to undermine his rule.

The sons of two cabinet ministers have been charged in a big corruption probe.

The investigation has led to charges against 24 people so far. They are suspected of involvement in bribery, in connection with urban development projects and the allocation of construction permits.

Baris Guler, the son of Interior Minister Muammer Guler, and Kaan Caglayan, son of Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, are among those detained, as is the chief executive of the state-owned Halkbank, Suleyman Aslan.

In Twitter comments on Sunday the two sons denied the accusations.
In some streets in Istanbul protesters set barricades ablaze
Riot police charged at protesters
Police tear gas sent protesters fleeing for cover

Commentators in Turkey report that the arrests and firings reflect a feud within Turkey's ruling AK Party between those who back Mr Erdogan and supporters of Fethullah Gulen, an Islamic scholar living in exile in the US.

In Istanbul protesters chanted "everywhere is bribery, everywhere is corruption". It was an echo of the Taksim Square mass protest this summer, when opposition activists chanted "everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance".

Police on Sunday used tear gas and water cannon to disperse them in streets where protesters had set fire to makeshift barricades.
Credit to BBC