A Turkish court yesterday acquitted more than two dozen activists who helped launch mass protests in 2013 against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a case slammed by rights campaigners.

The 26 suspects are all leaders of Taksim Solidarity, an umbrella group of civil society, union and political groups that was at the forefront of demonstrations marking the biggest challenge yet to the government.

The activists, who include doctors, architects and engineers, had been charged with including founding a crime syndicate, violating public order and organising illegal protests through social media and faced years in prison.

"All of us were acquitted," Mucella Yapici, one of the leaders, told AFP.