Police attempt to detain 10-year-old amid protests
ISTANBUL
The 10-year-old boy was released after the intervention of other police officers.
Police attempted to detain a 10-year-old during an intervention to disperse a group of demonstrators protesting the Soma mining disaster in the western city of İzmir late May 16.Protesters partly closed the city's Talatpaşa Avenue to traffic, before several riot police officers and three water cannon vehicles, or TOMAs, intervened in the crowd. Clashes continued for one hour, in which some protesters threw Molotov cocktails at the police.
Approximately 40 people were detained, including some who supported the protesters by applauding or banging pots and pans.
The crowd also protested when a group of police officers attempted to detain a 10-year-old boy who was with his parents on the nearby Kıbrıs Şehitleri Avenue, an entertainment hub in İzmir.
The boy was released after the intervention of other police officers.
Police fired tear gas and water cannons at 20,000 protesters in İzmir on May 15, as a 24-hour strike began over the deadly mine explosion in Soma.
The head of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK), Kani Beko, was also hospitalized after being attacked by police during the protests.
Here is the Doğan News Agency's footage of the İzmir protest:
