The 10,000-strong crowd in Diyarbakir, the biggest city in the Kurdish-populated southeast, threw stones at police after attending a rally held by lawmakers from the now-defunct Democratic Society party (DTP).

Police were seen responding with tear gas and water cannons, detaining several protestors.

It was the fourth straight day of protests since the constitutional court banned the DTP last week for links with Kurdish rebels who have led a 25-year insurgency in the southeast.

There were protests late Sunday in Istanbul -- home to a sizeable Kurdish community -- in which protestors attacked shops and vehicles, lit bonfires and set up barricades on the streets, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Similar demonstrations were held in the southern city of Mersin and in Viransehir in the southeast.

The ban against the DTP undermined a government drive, launched in August, to expand the rights of Turkey's estimated 12 million Kurds more rights in the hope of ending the 25-year armed campaign by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Tensions were already running high ahead of the verdict, amid violent street protests over claims of worsening prison conditions for jailed PKK leader Andullah Ocalan and a rebel attack that left seven soldiers dead.