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Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged young Turks to ignore calls to mark the first anniversary of Istanbul's Taksim Square protests, the BBC reported.

He was speaking ahead of nationwide demonstrations planned for Saturday.

Thousands of police officers and dozens of water cannon trucks are to be deployed to the square, reports say.

Protests against plans to redevelop Istanbul's Gezi Park last year turned into mass anti-government rallies after a heavy-handed police crackdown.

A number of people were killed in the unrest, with thousands more injured.

A 64-year-old woman, who fell into a coma after inhaling tear gas during another crackdown on protesters in the capital in December, died on Friday.

The main organisers behind the Gezi Park protests - Taksim Solidarity - have called for a demonstration on Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary, Hurriyet reports.

Demonstrations are also expected to take place in several other Turkish cities, including Ankara, Izmir and Antakya.

But Mr Erdogan warned young people not to take part, saying: "One year later, people, including so-called artists, are calling for demonstrations, but you, Turkey's youth, you will not respond to the call."