Clashes at Turkish crisis rally

Scenes from the rally in Ankara

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkish police have used batons, water cannons and tear gas as violence broke out at a huge demonstration over the country's financial crisis.

A group of protesters broke away from the 50,000 demonstrators gathered in Ankara's Tandogan Square and threw stones and sticks at police before attempting to storm the parliament.

The protesters, who were mainly small trade businessmen, were calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and his government amid accusations of economic mismanagement.

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A number of people were injured in the demonstrations, the biggest and most turbulent since Ecevit's public disagreement with his president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, in February sparked the financial crisis.

The Turkish lira collapsed, falling by 45 percent against the dollar, and an $11 billion International Monetary Fund reform plan had to be abandoned after the currency was floated.

The government is currently renegotiating a package, and new economic chief Kemel Dervis is expected to announce a new economic programme at the end of the week.

The government announced plans to ease the burden on small traders on Monday, including an extension of the period in which to apply for phased payments of unpaid taxes and to keep interest rates on loans from the state-run Halkbank at pre-crisis levels.

Turkey's military said on Wednesday it had postponed 32 modernisation projects worth $19.5 billion to try to ease the financial crisis, NTV television said.

The spending plans of the military, NATO's second largest, include purchasing 1,000 tanks and 145 attack helicopters.

Ecevit is refusing to quit

The protests are being led by tradesman and small business owners angry at soaring prices, rising unemployment and the collapse of businesses in Turkey. Trade unions have called for further demonstrations on Saturday.

Ecevit refused to quit on Wednesday, repeating his claim that it would lead to financial uncertainty and would be damaging for the economy.

"I do not see that upheaval and a search for a new government is of any help for Turkey and that is why I am staying in office," he told a meeting of his deputies in parliament.

He also warned the demonstrators that such public acts of dissent might damage Turkey's attempts to earn much-needed hard currency by attracting foreign tourists.

Interior Minister Saadettin Tantan said last weekend that radicals and Islamists had taken advantage of the unrest by stoking the demonstrations.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Ankara and other cities on Saturday, with more than 50 people taken into custody as officials used armoured cars equipped with water cannons to disperse the crowds.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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