7 Oct 2009

Demonstrations outside World Bank, IMF meetings

5:47 am on 7 October 2009

Turkish riot police have used tear gas and water cannon to break up a rally of 1500 protesters in Istanbul where the International Monetary Fund and World Bank are holding their annual meetings.

Police charged the crowd in Taksim square when the demonstrators tried to march on the meeting venue on Tuesday.

The protests were organised by several Turkish unions. CNN Turk reported around 100 people were detained.

The IMF helped bail Turkey out of a deep financial crisis in 2001. Turkey and the IMF are negotiating a possible new loan agreement after the last one expired more than a year ago.