[ONLINE.WSJ] Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters in several cities on Wednesday after the funeral of a teenager whose death kicked off the largest antigovernment demonstrations since unrest swept the nation last year.The festivities are feeding fears the country could plunge into unrest ahead of crucial elections later this month and underscore the polarization between supporters and opponents of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet...
. He remained defiant, insisting at a rally that the people taking to the streets were subverting democracy.
One policeman died in festivities with protesters in the Eastern city of Tunceli, Turkey's state news agency reported. Several Turkish news channels said the policeman, identified as 30-year-old Ahmet Kucuktag, died from a heart attack triggered by tear gas. There were no official reports of fatalities or injuries among protesters, though television broadcasts showed images of demonstrators maimed in the melee.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Istanbul to mark the funeral of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan, who died on Tuesday, nine months after he was hit in the head with a tear-gas canister during June demonstrations against Mr. Erdogan's government. Many chanted demands that the prime minister, who has become entangled in a massive corruption scandal, resign.
Marchers headed toward Istanbul's Taksim Square--the epicenter of last summer's demonstrations--but were stopped by security forces, prompting festivities between police and protesters.
Authorities also broke up smaller gatherings in the capital, Ankara, and the western cities of Izmir and Bursa.
| Turkish news organizations estimated that hundreds of thousands of people joined the demonstrations. Their scale reflects the challenge Mr. Erdogan faces before the March 30 local elections |
Turkish news organizations estimated that hundreds of thousands of people joined the demonstrations. Their scale reflects the challenge Mr. Erdogan faces before the March 30 local elections, widely seen as a referendum on his government after a decade in power.
His backers and opponents have become increasingly entrenched, analysts said. "This polarization is dangerous and it's deepening," said Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, an Istanbul-based think tank. "Initially, we hoped the trend would be diminished with the March elections, but the political volatility has added a new layer of complication and difficulty, which in all likelihood will not allow it to be a pressure valve."
Some analysts forecast that the local elections, which would be the first poll since the protests in June, would help ease tensions by giving both sides the chance to air their views. But the corruption scandal and the government's response--which includes reassigning thousands of coppers and judges, and passing sweeping laws to tighten executive control of the Internet and the judiciary--have magnified perceptions of Turkish politics as a zero-sum game.