ANKARA (REUTERS) - Police fired water cannon and teargas at protesters marching in Istanbul on Sunday against the Turkish government's urbanisation plans and a corruption investigation in which scores of people, including the sons of ministers, have been arrested.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in a square in Istanbul's Kadikoy district, holding banners calling Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's government to resign, Turkey's Dogan News agency reported.

Mr Erdogan has denounced the corruption inquiry as the work of"dark alliances" and has vowed to expose those involved. In a crackdown on the police command, he has already removed dozens of police chiefs from their duties.