Thousands of striking workers took to the streets of Turkey's cities on Wednesday, loudly joining calls for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to step down as mass protests against his rule intensified.
Bellowing to the din of drums and wailing Turkish pipes, teachers, doctors, bank staff and others marched in a sea of red and yellow labour union flags in the capital Ankara and in Istanbul, where they converged on Taksim Square, the cradle of nearly a week of violent clashes.
"Taksim, resist, the workers are coming!" they chanted, demanding the resignation of Erdogan, who has dismissed the protesters as "extremists" and "looters" as he faces down the biggest challenge to his decade in power.
Two people have been killed in the six days of unrest, doctors and officials say, and hundreds have been arrested.
Fresh clashes erupted overnight, with police firing tear gas and water cannon on protesters in major cities including Istanbul and reportedly arresting 25 people in Izmir for "misleading and libellous" Twitter posts.
"Erdogan needs to apologise, resign and go to court for the things he has done, for the excessive force," said Tansu Tahincioglu, a 26-year-old web entrepreneur in Istanbul.
"Before, people were afraid to express their fear publicly. Even tweets are a problem. But now they are not afraid," he told AFP.
The violent police response to the protests has hardened the movement, drawing in the labour unions that represent hundreds of thousands of Turks.
Two major trade union federations, KESK and DISK, launched two-day strikes from Tuesday in solidarity with the street protesters.
"The ordinary workers and the educated are all together to defend a better Turkey, where there is equality and freedom," said Arhan, a 45-year-old doctor, dressed like other demonstrators in a white shirt and cap.
Marching with his wife to Taksim Square, he said he did not believe Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc when he apologised on Tuesday to people injured at the start of the protests.
