Turkish police today deployed water cannon against protesters who alleged vote-rigging in weekend local polls in which the Islamic-rooted party of Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed sweeping victories.
About 2,000 supporters of the main secular opposition party had massed outside the elections authority in the capital Ankara, chanting "Thief Tayyip!" and "Ankara, don't sleep. Stand up for your vote!"
Riot police then unleashed water jets on the passionate crowd -- recalling the street clashes that started last June in Istanbul's Gezi Park and kicked off months of political turmoil in the country.
The top spokesman for Erdogan's party condemned the rally, saying on TV: "You cannot claim a victory that the people have not given to you by massing crowds in front of the election board.
"Everyone has a natural right to object, but no-one can achieve anything by mobilising the crowds through social media and provoking them," said Huseyin Celik of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Sunday's municipal polls were seen as a referendum on the 11-year-rule of Erdogan, who is popular for driving strong economic growth but has been accused of an increasingly authoritarian ruling style.
Turkey's two biggest cities were the top prizes in the elections, in which Erdogan's AKP declared sweeping wins despite graft claims against the premier's inner circle and an Internet clampdown.
The race was especially symbolic in Ankara, the inland capital built by the secular founding father of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who established the Republican People's Party (CHP), now the main opposition party.
Pro-CHP demonstrators massed outside the elections authority after the incumbent mayor had declared victory with a wafer-thin margin of about one percent.
The crowd chanted, "We are the soldiers of Ataturk", a popular CHP slogan.
One of the protesters, Tulay Ozturk, told AFP: "I believe the elections are marred by wrongdoing. That's why I am here. I want fair elections.
