A small crowd of protesters captured an idle heavy construction vehicle in Besiktas district purportedly in support for what started as demonstrations against a construction project in a green park at Istanbul's city center but quickly turned into anti-government protests.
Demonstrators moved the vehicle, used in a restoration project at Inonu Stadium, towards the center of the Besiktas and broke through a police roadblock before the officers prevented it from moving forward by blocking its path with an armored riot control vehicle. After being stopped, the machinery caught fire due to unknown reasons.
Separately, 500 protesters were arrested in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Sunday in the popular Kizilay neighborhood where demonstrators threw stones and chanted slogans in a show of solidarity with Gezi Park protesters, damaging 16 public coaches and battering a janitor.
In another demonstration in Kutahya province in west of Turkey, an AA correspondent was injured by a stone thrown by demonstrators who gathered to support Gezi Park protests.
Turkish Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Nihat Ergun said the government would thoroughly investigate the recent happenings.
"We are aware the incidents are not limited to protests related to the cutting of trees or the construction of a shopping mall," Ergun said. "We know it's not just a few protests here and there that last for several days, and we will evaluate the situation accordingly."
