This followed a day of tear gas and water cannons in Ankara
The protesters oppose Turkey's support for Syrian rebels in the civil war
Dozens of demonstrators were faced with tear gas and water cannons by police in Istanbul today as they protested against the Turkish government's policy towards Syria.
Two groups of protesters were marching to Besiktas district near the Dolmabahce Palace on the European side of the city when officers blocked their path, reports the state-run Anatolia News Agency.
Some of the demonstrators, said to be mainly students, tried to climb barriers while police used water cannons and tear gas on the groups. Others took refuge in the historic Dolmabahce Mosque.
Protesters in Istanbul clashed with riot police today during a protest against the Turkish government's foreign policy on Syria
The crackdown followed similar scenes in Ankara yesterday, where clashes between students and security forces using cannons and gas saw 30 arrested and two injured.
Crowds in Istanbul and Ankara were protesting against prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's funding and support for the Syrian rebels against President Bashar Assad.
Syria has accused the Turkish government of facilitating the flow of arms, explosives, vehicles, fighters and money to rebels across the border.
Turkey, a Nato member, has hosted opposition leaders, rebel commanders and thousands of refugees since the Syrian civil war began.
At the weekend, two car bombs killed more than 50 people in the Turkish border town of Reyhanli, with deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc blaming Assad's regime for the blasts.
Four suspects were formally arrested and remanded in custody yesterday over the bombings, Anatolian news agency said. It was not clear what charges they faced.
They were among nine Turks, including the alleged mastermind of the attacks, detained soon after the bombings.
Foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said the perpetrators were from an 'old Marxist terrorist organisation' with ties to Assad's government. Syria has denied any involvement.
Turkey, which hosts about 400,000 Syrians, is struggling to manage the flow of Syrians across its border.
he clashes happened near the Dolmabahce Palace, with some sheltering in the Dolmabahce mosque
The police action in Istanbul followed similar force against yesterday's protesters in Ankara
The United Nations says the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey could climb to a million by the end of the year.
Ankara has grown increasingly troubled by what it calls international inaction on the crisis, which has long divided the big powers.
Erdogan, who has often voiced such frustrations, was meeting U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington today, with Syria expected to top the agenda.
Like the U.S., Turkey has supported the opposition in the Syrian crisis, and Erdogan has been calling for more aggressive steps to topple Assad, including establishing a no-fly zone in Syria.
The Obama administration remains reluctant to take the kind of action Turkey would like to see.
While U.S. officials have said they are not excluding the possibility of arming some carefully vetted groups of rebels in the future, they remain reluctant of providing the opposition with heavier weapons for fear they could end up in the hands of radical Islamic groups that have become the most effective fighting force on the opposition side.
The twin bombings in Reyhanli, among the bloodiest in Turkey's modern history, stoked unease among Turks along the border most affected by the turmoil in Syria.
Several protests have erupted in Reyhanli and other nearby towns since the bombings, with many locals blaming security problems on Ankara's policy of supporting the Syrian opposition.
Others have taken out their frustration on the Syrians themselves. Thousands of Syrians have settled in Reyhanli because of its proximity to the border and because most of its people are Sunnis, like almost all the refugees.
A Syrian doctor in Reyhanli who treats wounded Syrians at a rehabilitation centre said one of his nurses had been attacked on the street hours after the blasts.
Others said their cars had been attacked and one said locals had seized him and handed him over to the police.
While the incidents appear to be isolated and sporadic, the general sense of anger directed at the Syrians has made most of the refugees too afraid to venture out of their homes.
Turkish president Abdullah Gul said any sudden population influx could allow those with 'bad intentions' to surface, but urged people in the area to be 'level-headed' and said the bomb perpetrators would be punished.
Syria's crisis, which began in March 2011 with pro-democracy protests and later turned into a civil war that has killed an estimated 70,000 people, has taken on increasingly sectarian overtones.
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