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Killings by Turkish Police Spark Protests

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<i> Associated Press</i>

The government poured more than 1,000 police officers and soldiers into a slum outside Istanbul on Tuesday to control protesters inflamed by the police killing of rioting government supporters Monday.

Throughout the country, thousands turned out in heavy snow and rain to protest the deaths. The government said police killed 15 people Monday. A community leader said 25 died.

Violence began to convulse the Istanbul area Sunday, when radical Islamic gunmen killed three people and wounded 25 in a shantytown populated by members of the Alawite sect of Islam. The sect supports Turkey’s secular system.

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The following day, police fired shots in the slum to break up a crowd of 1,500 people who had rioted over the deadly attacks.

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