Death toll in Turkey protests rises to 5
26-year-old who suffered a blow to the head last week succumbs to injuries
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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A lawyer says a protester injured during clashes with Turkish riot police has died, raising the death toll to five from the two-week standoff between police and activists that has challenged Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
The protests centered on Istanbul’s Taksim Square looked set to continue Thursday despite a referendum offer over a contested development plan presented a day earlier by Erdogan’s party.
Family lawyer Sema Aksoy said 26-year-old Ether Sarisuluk — who had been on a life support for days — was pronounced dead Thursday. He was believed to have been hit in the head by a tear gas canister during protests in Ankara on June 1.
A human rights group says thousands of people were treated for injuries in protests that began May 31.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
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