Students, police clash in Ankara

Turkish riot police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in demonstrations against the clearance of trees on an Ankara university campus to make way for a controversial road development. In one demo by some 100 students, 26 people were arrested as they tried to march to the campus of the Middle East Technical University from Ankara city center, according to the left-wing student group Genc-Der, which organized the Saturday rally, Voice of Russia reported. The protesters were attempting to plant trees in the garden of a public building, the group's representative told AFP, adding that police prevented them from doing so. In a separate protest later on Saturday, some 200 protesters walked onto the road construction site, prompting police to use tear gas and water cannon to break up the crowd, the private Dogan news agency reported. For several weeks there have been sporadic protests in Ankara and other cities against the plan to build a road through the campus in a bid to alleviate traffic congestion in the Turkish capital.