ISTANBUL, Oct 7 — Turkish police fired tear gas and used water cannon to disperse hundreds of people protesting against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank during their annual meetings in Istanbul yesterday.
Riot police armed with shields and firing gas canisters rushed to disperse protesters in Taksim square, a few hundred metres from the IMF-World Bank meetings. Several banks were damaged and ransacked by protesters, predominantly Turkish.
“Long live freedom. IMF get out of our city,” protesters chanted.
Police detained around 50 people, some for throwing petrol bombs near the convention centre where finance ministers, central bankers and economists have been meeting to discuss the global economy, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler told reporters.
“Some illegal groups attacked police with stones, sticks, petrol bombs and even gas bombs,” he said.
“This has nothing to do with freedom of expression.”
He said there were no immediate reports of casualties.
The main square and surrounding streets were largely calm by early afternoon, although police were still pursuing small groups of protesters in side streets.
The protests were organised by several Turkish unions, but were relatively small compared with some protests at other major IMF or similar global meetings on the economy.
Obtaining permission to organise demonstrations in Turkey is difficult, with strict rules enforced by the authorities.
Protesters huddled in hotel and shop entrances rubbing their eyes affected by tear gas fired into the crowd by riot police. Some covered their faces with red scarves. The main pedestrian Istiklal street was briefly deserted as people fled the clashes.
The front windows of several banks were smashed and the offices vandalised. Police later led out of one branch staff and customers who had been hiding on the first floor of the building. The screens of cash machines at several banks were also smashed.
One student was briefly detained last week after throwing his shoe at IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn during a speech at an Istanbul university. The shoe missed its target.
There is significant opposition among Turkish students to the IMF, which helped bail Turkey out of a deep financial crisis in 2001. Turkey and the IMF are negotiating a possible new loan agreement after the last one expired more than a year ago. — Reuters
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