Police use tear gas, rubber bullets on protesting stallholders in İstanbul

Photos and video: Hayri Tunç

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Police used tear gas and bullets on stallholders in a bazaar in Gaziosmanpaşa, İstanbul, after they refused to move to a new place upon a decision by the district municipality.

The bazaar has been there for 30 years and locals in Hürriyet Neighborhood have been collecting signatures for weeks to cancel the move, journalist Hayri Tunç said on Twitter.

Riot police and Gaziosmanpaşa Municipal Police took measures in the morning at the old place of the bazaar that is set up every Tuesday, according to reports.

When stallholders wanted to open stalls there, police intervened, using tear gas and rubber bullets.

The new place allocated for the bazaar was too far from its usual place, hence locals and stallholders don't want it, Tunç said.

"A grocery store known for being close to the government has three stores near the current place of the bazaar," he wrote. (AÖ/VK)