ISTANBUL (REUTERS) - A protester was shot dead late on Monday during an anti-government demonstration in southern Turkey near the Syrian border, the provincial governor's office said.

Abdullah Comert, 22, died in the town of Antakya, the statement said. Television channel NTV reported he was demonstrating to show support for a wider protest that began in Istanbul last week against the policies of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, and said he was shot in the head.

It was not immediately clear who opened fire at the Antakya rally, the governor's office statement said.

Hatay province borders Syria and has sheltered thousands of refugees from the civil war there. Last month, car bombs ripped through the centre of the Hatay town of Reyhanli, killing 52 people.

Comert was a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party's (CHP) youth branch, NTV reported, citing a CHP lawmaker from Hatay.