Hundreds of protesters gathered and marched toward Incirlik Air Base in the southeast of the country to express their opposition to the visit of the US Secretary of State to Ankara. Law enforcement officers deployed water cannon to maintain distance between the demonstrators and the military facility.
Turkish police on Sunday fired tear gas to disperse a pro-Palestinian rally staged outside a military base housing US forces just hours before the arrival in Ankara of Washington’s top diplomat.
The protest outside the Incirlik Air Base in southeastern Turkey was organized by the IHH humanitarian relief fund, which in 2010 led a flotilla to Gaza that ended in a deadly clash with the IDF.
It came as Israel battles Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the terror group’s devastating onslaught against the country last month that killed more 1,400 people, mostly civilians.
An AFP photographer said the police intervened when the crowd began to walk toward the base after holding a peaceful rally in Incirlik. Hundreds of protesters
Images on social media showed several hundred people waving Palestinian flags running across a field chased by the police, who also used a water cannon. There were no reports of injuries or arrests. US officials issued no comment.