ANKARA, Nov 6: Demonstrations against state control of universities in Turkey degenerated into street violence on Saturday as police used tear gas and dogs against hundreds of students armed with Molotov cocktails and stones.

Some 1,000 people gathered in the capital Ankara to denounce the founding of the Higher Education Council (YOK), created 23 years ago by a military junta to put formerly autonomous universities under tight state control.

The demonstration turned ugly when riot police stopped the protesters, mainly left-wing activists, from marching to the main Kizilay square, cutting off roads with armoured vehicles.

The students - many with bandanas covering their faces - responded by pelting the security forces with Molotov cocktails and chunks of stone dismantled from pavements.

An activist with a gas mask over his mouth was seen raising his hands in the V-sign after the petrol bomb he hurled hit an armoured vehicle.

Television footage showed small blazes dotting the streets and passers-by running away in panic and shielding their children.

About 4,000 officials were deployed in downtown Ankara for the demonstration and a police helicopter overflew the area.-AFP