PROTESTS TURN VIOLENT

More than 1,500 students have clashed with riot police in Turkey as protests over state-controlled universities turned violent.

At least 41 people were injured during the protests in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.


The protests marked the 22nd anniversary of the creation of the Higher Education Council (YOK), which put formerly autonomous universities under tight state control.

In Ankara, more than 1,000 students rallying in the central square threw stones at police, who responded with tear gas, water cannons and police truncheons.

Ten demonstrators were detained and 30 protestors, 10 police officers and one reporter were injured, Anatolia news agency reported.

Demonstrators later broke the windows of police vehicles parked in front of a police station, about half a mile from the protest. Police fired shots in the air as a warning.

In Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, police also used tear gas to break up a similar protest against YOK.