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Turkey protests: Police clear Istanbul's Taksim Square | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Turkish riot police have cleared Istanbul's Taksim Square, which has been occupied by anti-government protesters for close to two weeks. | |
Police deployed water cannon and fired tear gas and rubber bullets, causing many protesters to flee the square into adjoining Gezi Park. | |
Some activists hurled fireworks, fire bombs and stones at police. | |
The unrest began after a crackdown on an environmental protest over Gezi Park's redevelopment. | |
The protests then widened, with demonstrators accusing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government of becoming increasingly authoritarian and trying to impose conservative Islamic values on a secular state. | |
Mr Erdogan defended the police intervention on Tuesday, saying that an environmental movement had been hijacked by people who wanted to harm Turkey. | |
In a speech that was frequently interrupted by applause, he asked: "What did the protesters expect? That we would kneel down before them?" | |
And he appeared to contradict Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu, who had earlier said the police had no intention of breaking up the protest in Gezi Park. | And he appeared to contradict Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu, who had earlier said the police had no intention of breaking up the protest in Gezi Park. |
"I invite them to withdraw from the park and I ask this as prime minister. | "I invite them to withdraw from the park and I ask this as prime minister. |
"I am sorry but Gezi Park is for taking promenades, not for occupation," Mr Erdogan said. | "I am sorry but Gezi Park is for taking promenades, not for occupation," Mr Erdogan said. |
Reuters news agency is reporting that several dozen riot police briefly entered the park but withdrew back into Taksim Square when they were confronted by a crowd of several hundred protesters. | |
Police have removed protesters' banners which had been hung from a building overlooking Taksim Square, replacing them with the national flag and a portrait of the father of the Turkish state, Kemal Ataturk. | |
The BBC's Mark Lowen, in the square, says this was a deliberate show of force that may jeopardise plans by Mr Erdogan to meet the protest organisers on Wednesday. | |
Three people have died and more than 5,000 have been injured since the protests began. | Three people have died and more than 5,000 have been injured since the protests began. |
Smaller protests have occurred in the capital, Ankara, too. Police there have used water cannon and tear gas to break up demonstrations almost every night. |