Turkish police fired water cannon on Saturday to disperse hundreds of protesters who gathered to march to Gezi Park in central Istanbul, which has been at the heart of fierce demonstrations against Prime Minister Erdogan's rule. Saturday's protests were triggered when police blocked access to the park where a couple, who met during last month's anti-government rallies, were planning to get married and had posted an invitation for guests to attend online.
The police intervention was the first in a week in Istanbul after protesters marched on Taksim last weekend, angered by a government-sponsored bill which stripped an architects' and engineers' association involved in the protests, the TMMOB, of its final approval authority on urban planning projects.