ISTANBUL/RAFAH – Thousands of Turkish protesters on Tuesday staged a demonstration in Istanbul to condemn the Egyptian police’s heavy-handed crackdown on a Gaza-bound international aid convoy.

More than 500 international activists accompanied the convoy organized by the British-based group Viva Palestina, bringing tons of humanitarian supplies, as well as vehicles, to Gaza. The group includes British, American, Jordanian and Turkish activists and lawmakers.
The scuffle broke out late Tuesday at al-Arish port building when authorities told the organizers that out of the nearly 200 vehicles, some 59 can't enter Gaza through Egypt, but must go through Israeli terminals.
Following the incident, Turkish protesters poured into streets and assembled in front of the Egyptian consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday.
They carried flags of Palestine and chanted slogans in condemnation of Cairo's use of force against the human rights activists and Israel's ongoing siege of the Palestinian coastal enclave.
Palestinians showered the Egyptian security forces across the border with stones on Wednesday.
The intermittent clashes at the port lasted for a couple of hours and left more than 50 activists and over a dozen members of the security forces injured, the Associated Press reported.
In order to beat Israel’s merciless blockade of Gaza, the Palestinians dug out hundreds of tunnels under the Egyptian-Gaza border, through which the daily supplies for the population were flowing in.
Israel controls three sides of the Gaza strip. The Northern and Eastern borders are blocked by the Israeli army, the Western border by the Israeli navy. The fourth border, the Southern one, is controlled by Egypt. Now Egypt has started building an iron wall along the full length of the Gaza border, consisting of steel pillars thrust deep into the ground, in order to block all these economic tunnels.
The clashes add to the embarrassment of Egypt, which has come under fire from Arab and Muslim groups for cooperating with Israel in its 28-month blockade of the impoverished territory. The Israeli blockade was imposed after Hamas took power in Gaza after securing a historic election victory.
A security official said the vehicles in question are carrying pickup trucks, sedans, generators and other equipment, which are not allowed to pass through the Egyptian crossing at Rafah and had to go via Israel. Only medical aid and passengers are allowed through, the official said.
British MP George Galloway told Sky News television that the activists were negotiating with authorities and refusing to leave behind their vehicles.
“We refused this because it's a breach of the agreement which we reached,” he said. “It is completely unconscionable that 25 percent of our convoy should go to Israel and never arrive in Gaza, because nothing that goes to Israel ever arrives in Gaza.”
Egyptian authorities had already refused the convoy entry into the country from the Red Sea, forcing it to change course to the Mediterranean port.
“We are activists. We condemn the Israeli siege to start with. We will only enter through an Egyptian-Palestinian crossing,” said Wael al-Sakka, a Jordanian activist.
Television reports showed images of riot police hurling stones at peace activities.
Photo: Turkish protesters march toward Egyptian consulate in Istanbul, late Tuesday shortly after the international convoy called “Breaking the siege of Gaza” came under attack by Egyptian riot police at the Mediterranean port of Al-Arish, Egypt, Tuesday night, Jan. 5, 2010. Jan. 5, 2010. (AP photo)