Death toll from Turkey's protests rises to five as embattled PM seeks way out of crisis A lawyer says a protester injured during clashes with Turkish riot police has died, raising the death toll to five from the two-week standoff between police and activists that has challenged Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government. The protests centred on Istanbul's Taksim Square looked set to continue Thursday despite a referendum offer over a contested development plan presented a day earlier by Erdogan's party. Family lawyer Sema Aksoy said 26-year-old Ether Sarisuluk - who had been on a life support for days - was pronounced dead Thursday. He was believed to have been hit in the head by a tear gas canister during protests in Ankara on June 1. A human rights group says thousands of people were treated for injuries in protests that began May 31.