Turkey's PM to convene party leadership

ISTANBUL (AP) — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to convene his party leadership as anti-government protests enter their ninth day, with thousands of people still occupying Istanbul's central Taksim Square.

Erdogan, who has said the protests must end immediately, was to meet with top officials from his Justice and Development Party in Istanbul Saturday.

The protests began as a sit-in at a park in Taksim Square to prevent a redevelopment project that would replace the park with replica Ottoman barracks and other buildings. But violent intervention by police to eject the protesters on May 31 outraged many, and the protests spread to dozens of cities across Turkey.

Protesters clashed with riot police on the outskirts of Istanbul overnight, and witnesses say at least one person had been injured.