(AFP)
Turkish police Wednesday used water cannons and tear gas to stop hundreds of university students from staging an anti-government demonstration.
Some 500 students had gathered at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara for an intended march to the headquarters of the ruling Justice and Development Party to denounce recent police crackdowns on student protests and demand university reform.
A large force of riot police blocked the gates of the university to prevent the march, prompting hails of stones and plastic bottles from the left-wing students, who brandished a giant banner reading "We are rebelling."
The security forces responded with pressurised water and then used tear gas to keep the students inside the campus.
At least one person, a cameraman, was injured in the head by a stone, according to an AFP correspondent.
Student anger at the government has grown since last month when heavy-handed police response to protests in Istanbul and Ankara unleashed a torrent of criticism against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.
On December 4, baton-wielding officers hit and kicked left-wing students who were gathering in Istanbul to demonstrate against Erdogan, causing one young pregnant woman to miscarry.
Erdogan defended the police, accusing the students of links to underground groups and blasting extensive media coverage of the events.
