Turkish police detain protesters who occupy Spanish culture center

Dozens of demonstrators briefly occupied a Spanish culture center in Istanbul on Wednesday to draw attention to the plight of 10,000 Tekel workers who are protesting changes to their employment status in Ankara.

Wednesday’s demonstrators unfurled banners and shouted slogans urging the government to meet the Tekel workers’ demands for new jobs.

Tekel is Turkey’s former state-owned alcohol and tobacco monopoly.

Police later moved into the Cervantes Institute, near Taksim square, and detained all the protesters. Such demonstrations at international sites are usually aimed at attracting global media attention.

Tekel workers have held demonstrations across Turkey for weeks after having had their employee benefits slashed when Tekel was sold to British American Tobacco Investments Ltd.

/Hurriyet Daily News/