Turkey: Turkish police used tear gas and water cannon as hundreds of people at a pro-Palestinian rally on Sunday tried to storm an air base that houses US troops, hours before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due in Ankara for talks on Gaza.
Turkey, which has stepped up its criticism of Israel as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened, supports a two-state solution while hosting members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Since the Israel-Hamas war started, protests have erupted across the country.
Earlier this week, the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, an Islamist Turkish aid agency, organised a convoy to travel to the Incirlik air base in the Adana province in southern Turkey to protest Israeli attacks on Gaza and U.S. support for Israel.
Incirlik, which has been used to support the international coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, also houses U.S. troops. IHH’s protest called for Incirlik to be closed.
Footage from the protests showed police firing tear gas and using water cannons to disperse crowds waving Turkish and Palestinian flags and chanting slogans. Protesters toppled barricades and clashed with police in riot gear.
On Friday too, protests were held in Turkey where protesters defaced posters of Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a report by the news agency Reuter said.
In Ankara later on Sunday, Blinken will hold talks with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is unlikely to meet Blinken as he would be on a planned tour.
