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| Police clear Istanbul's Gezi Park after Erdogan warning | Police clear Istanbul's Gezi Park after Erdogan warning |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Riot police have moved to clear the protest camp in Istanbul's Gezi Park, using tear gas and water cannon. | Riot police have moved to clear the protest camp in Istanbul's Gezi Park, using tear gas and water cannon. |
| Police began dismantling the tents that protesters had put up in the park. | Police began dismantling the tents that protesters had put up in the park. |
| The move came hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned protesters to evacuate the area ahead of a rally by his AK party on Sunday. | The move came hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned protesters to evacuate the area ahead of a rally by his AK party on Sunday. |
| Plans to redevelop the park sparked a wave of broader anti-government unrest and protesters had vowed to stay there until their demands were met. | Plans to redevelop the park sparked a wave of broader anti-government unrest and protesters had vowed to stay there until their demands were met. |
| Local residents took to their balconies or leant out of windows banging pots and pans, while car drivers sounded their horns in support of the protesters, Reuters news agency reports. | Local residents took to their balconies or leant out of windows banging pots and pans, while car drivers sounded their horns in support of the protesters, Reuters news agency reports. |
| Some of the protesters were reportedly receiving medical attention, several of them retreating into a nearby hotel. | |
| In the capital Ankara, thousands of people came out onto the streets to chant anti-government slogans. | |
| Earlier, in a speech in Ankara, Mr Erdogan told tens of thousands of AK party supporters: "If Taksim Square is not evacuated, this country's security forces will know how to evacuate it." | |
| "Staying there [in Gezi Park] makes no sense anymore as the matter is now in the hands of the courts," he told tens of thousands of cheering supporters. | |
| "Nobody can intimidate us. We take no orders or instruction from anyone but God," he added. | "Nobody can intimidate us. We take no orders or instruction from anyone but God," he added. |
| He also dismissed the wave of demonstrations as part of an organised plot against him. | He also dismissed the wave of demonstrations as part of an organised plot against him. |
| One protest group responded to Mr Erdogan's speech by calling for another mass rally in Taksim Square. Istanbul is also set to host an AK party rally on Sunday, | |
| Rising 'authoritarianism' | |
| On 31 May, a crackdown on environmentalists in Gezi Park provoked protests across Turkey against the police's actions and against Mr Erdogan's government. | On 31 May, a crackdown on environmentalists in Gezi Park provoked protests across Turkey against the police's actions and against Mr Erdogan's government. |
| On Saturday, the protesters vowed to stay there, despite a promise by Mr Erdogan to halt the development plan for the park until a court ruling on the issue. | On Saturday, the protesters vowed to stay there, despite a promise by Mr Erdogan to halt the development plan for the park until a court ruling on the issue. |
| Last month, an Istanbul court issued an initial injunction against the plan to cut down trees in the park to make way for a shopping centre and replica 18th-Century military barracks. The government has appealed against the ruling. | |
| Mr Erdogan's offer was presented as a major concession. But after discussions in Gezi Park on Friday night, the protesters said their movement was more than just a conservation protest and vowed to stay on. | |
| Five people have died and thousands have been injured since the protests began. | Five people have died and thousands have been injured since the protests began. |
| Demonstrators have accused Mr Erdogan's government of becoming increasingly authoritarian and of trying to impose conservative Islamic values on a secular state. | Demonstrators have accused Mr Erdogan's government of becoming increasingly authoritarian and of trying to impose conservative Islamic values on a secular state. |
| The police crackdown on protesters in Istanbul, Ankara, and other towns and cities has drawn international concern, especially from Europe. | The police crackdown on protesters in Istanbul, Ankara, and other towns and cities has drawn international concern, especially from Europe. |