September 7, 2006 - 15:25 AMT
People in Turkey Protest against Troop Deployment in Lebanon
Some 15 thousand people throughout Turkey had taken to the streets on Tuesday to protest against the government motion, which allowed deployment of Turkish troops in Lebanon. Anti-war activists protesting against the troop deployment in Lebanon clashed with anti-riot police in Ankara on Wednesday as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was receiving UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Some 300 leftist activists gathered at crossroads and closed the traffic to march to the Prime Ministry on Wednesday afternoon. Police set up a barricade and did not allow the protestors to march to the Prime Minister's House where PM Erdogan was receiving Annan. Rejecting to end their protest, masked activists began to clash with police who later used tear gas to disperse the protestors. Police chased the activists down to the side streets and detained dozens of them. Some protestors threw stones to the Ankara office of the ruling Justice and Development Party, headed by the country's PM, reports Cihan News Agency.