Turkish police have fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters as groups gathered to march to Gezi Park, which has been at the heart of weeks of anti-government demonstrations.

The demonstrations on Saturday were against a government-sponsored law that took away the urban planning approval authority of an Architects' and Engineers' Association that was involved in the anti-government protests.

What had started as a small protest against the planned redevelopment of Istanbul's Gezi Park triggered a nationwide wave of protests last month against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused by his critics of becoming increasingly authoritarian after a decade in power.

Architects in the Association had brought a lawsuit against plans to redevelop Istanbul's Gezi Park, the issue which prompted the first protests against Erdogan. A court has since cancelled the redevelopment project but the authorities can appeal against the ruling.

Five people died and thousands were injured in the police crackdown on the protests across Turkey.

Source: Reuters