Turkish police arrest dozens in swoop on left-wing groups

Dozens of people suspected of involvement in violence against police during a wave of anti-government protests have been detained during a series of raids today, according to Turkish news reports.

NTV television said the swoops in Ankara and Istanbul targeted left-wing groups.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency said at least 25 people were detained in Ankara and many others in Istanbul.

Earlier, police detained a dozen people who stood still in Istanbul’s Taksim Square in a form of passive defiance against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authority after activists were ousted from a sit-in in a park over the weekend.

The wave of anti-government protest that has swept through Turkey since May 31 has shaken the country’s secular democracy.