Mücella Yapıcı

The Workers' Party of Turkey, TIP, holds a protest in Istanbul. Photo: Workers' Party of Turkey

"We demand respect for the will of the people of Hatay," the TIP said in a statement.

"What is happening is against the constitution in every way. End this illegality and enforce the laws from which you derive your authority," it added.

Defying police intervention, thousands of protesters on Tuesday took to the streets of Istanbul to condemn a Turkish court's decision to jail for life philanthropist and human rights advocate Osman Kavala and others for their roles in the Gezi Park Protests in 2013, which the court insisted was a coup attempt.

Protesters hold placards reading "The Gezi resistance continues" in front of the Istanbul Caglayan Court House to support Turkish businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

Turkish philanthropist and civil society leader Osman Kavala and eight co-defendants were acquitted by an Istanbul court on Tuesday on charges of trying to overthrow the government during a wave of protests in 2013 in defence of a park that city authorities planned to build on.

Hundreds of people, including lawmakers from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), marched down Istanbul's İstiklal Avenue on the evening of May 31 to mark the fourth anniversary of Gezi Park protests, Turkey's largest-ever civil uprising.