ISTANBUL, Turkey, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Riot police and protesters clashed Wednesday outside a meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Istanbul, witnesses said.
In a second day of protests, about 2,000 demonstrators were gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square when riot police moved in with tear gas and water cannons, Bianet reported. The Contemporary Lawyers Associations told the news service that police records indicate a total of about 200 people were arrested.
Bianet said passers-by and journalists as well as demonstrators were affected by the police actions, reporting that many were close to fainting in the square. A police officer in the city's Tarlarbasi district was reportedly hit by a Molotov cocktail, which prompted police to use guns against the demonstrators.
The protests broke out as IMF and World Bank officials concluded their annual session by issuing a public call to establish an economic "new world order" amid the upheaval of the global economic crisis, CNN Turk reported.
The broadcaster said Tuesday's protests resulted in the arrests of at least 80 demonstrators, who had erected makeshift barricades to briefly block major streets while throwing Molotov cocktails.
