Ankara - People across Turkey took to the streets Sunday night to celebrate their national football team's victory over the Czech Republic that sent Turkey into the quarter-finals of Euro 2008.

Thousands of Turks waving Turkish flags converged on Istanbul's Taksim square in the early hours of Monday morning following Turkey's dramatic 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic.

In Ankara, traffic police attempted in vain to stop impromptu street parties that brought traffic to a halt in the capital. Not that anyone was worried, as it appeared that the only traffic on the streets was of those celebrating the football victory.

"What can I do?," one traffic police officer told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) amid the din of a thousand car horns. "We won. Everyone wants to celebrate. Me too actually."

"We can keep going, as long as we believe" one fan said before running off into a the melee of cars revving and people singing.

Turkey is now set to play Croatia in the quarter-finals. (dpa)