A lenient court ruling for two Turkish police officers charged with the fatal beating of a protester has sparked violent protests in several cities in Turkey.

After the announcement of the verdict on Wednesday, some 1,000 protesters, who had gathered outside the court in the central city of Kayseri, clashed with riot police.

According to the protesters, the sentences are too lenient and far lower than the life terms that prosecutors had requested.

Reports say police used teargas to disperse the angry crowds.

Mevlut Saldogan was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in jail and his fellow police officer Yalcin Akbulut received about 10 years for the killing of Ali Ismail Korkmaz during a protest in the western city of Eskisehir on June 2, 2013.

"Overall, the judicial machinery has been ineffective in bringing police abuses to justice in the face of obstructiveness and failure to provide evidence by law enforcement agencies," said an Amnesty International statement in relation to the verdicts.

The sentencing also sparked protests in other Turkish cities such as Istanbul and the southern city of Adana.

Two other police officers were acquitted during the trial.

Korkmaz was one of the eight people who were killed during three weeks of unrest in 2013 sparked by plans to redevelop a park in Istanbul which escalated into a nationwide wave of anger against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the then premier.

SRK/AS/MHB