Protests rekindled in Turkey after death of comatose boy

Berkin Elvan, a Turkish teenager, died yesterday, triggering fresh protests across Turkey against prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Elvan was 14 when he left his home to buy bread last summer.  Witnesses say he was struck in the head by a police tear gas cannister. He suffered severe trauma to his head, which left him in a coma for nine months. 

Protesters gathered outside the Istanbul hospital where the boy died. In the meantime, riot police closed off Taksim Square to deter protesters from congregating there again. Protests erupted in other Turkish cities where riot police have been known to use tear gas to subdue demonstrators.