Slideshow ( 3 images )

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police used water cannon and tear gas against crowds of protesters in Istanbul on Saturday, a Reuters cameraman at the scene said, in an attempt to block them from marching to the office of an opposition newspaper whose staff had been arrested.

The protest in central Istanbul came hours after Turkish authorities ordered the formal arrest of nine staff members of the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper and detained more pro-Kurdish officials, widening an anti-terrorism probe that has drawn condemnation from the West. On Friday the co-leaders of the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) were also jailed pending trial.

Tear gas filled some streets in the Sisli neighborhood of Istanbul, another Reuters reporter near the scene said, while police helicopters were heard buzzing overhead.