Turkish PM Erdogan faces violent protests

Police used tear gas to end the commotion at the stadium in Sogut, northwestern Turkey, where Erdogan was attending a ceremony to commemorate one of the founding fathers of the Ottoman Empire, the Milliyet newspaper reported on its web site.

One of the injured bodyguards was also a nephew of Erdogan. He was hurt in the face by a protestor wearing brass knuckles, Anatolia news agency reported, adding that the second bodyguard suffered a similar injury in the arm.

The protesters - activists from the far-right Nationalist Action Party - frequently interrupted Erdogan's speech, booing him and chanting slogans condemning his government's pledge to send troops to the UN force in Lebanon and its failure to stop bloodshed by Kurdish rebels in Turkey's southeast.

"I ignore the insults and I wish everyone well," Erdogan was quoted as saying at the end of his speech.

A girl was injured after the ceremony ended when protestors hurled stones at a bus carrying members of Erdogan's Justice and Development Party, Anatolia reported.

Ankara's Lebanon deployment decision has triggered street protests, with critics arguing that the government should first deal with Kurdish rebels who have stepped up deadly attacks on the army.

Erdogan fuelled public anger last week when he bluntly told a protestor denouncing the killing of Turkish soldiers that "military service is not a place to lay down and relax." AFP

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