Just hours after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's warning to protesters occupying Taksim Square, riot police in Istanbul moved in and vacated the adjoining Gezi Park of demonstrators. Police officials in large numbers used water cannons, teargas, and rubber bullets to drive out protesters, injuring several people in the process. It took the police less than an hour to vacate the area of occupiers that began about 18 days ago.
Nonetheless, news reports indicate continued protests elsewhere in Istanbul and other parts of the country. Meanwhile, reports also say the Confederation of Public Workers' Unions plans to call for a countrywide strike on Monday, with possibilities of at least one more union joining in.
Earlier, Erdogan made it clear he would have Taksim Square cleared of protesters unless they withdrew voluntarily. Erdogan said his Justice and Development (AK) Party will hold a rally at the square on Sunday.
Several hundreds of policemen accompanied by armored vehicles sealed off Taksim square and brought down tents and other structures demonstrators occupying the area had been using for the last two weeks.
Protesters dispersed in panic, seeking shelter in adjoining buildings and streets with many people vomiting and fainting on the aftermath of percussion bombs and teargas shelling. Witnesses say there was utter panic and chaos in the vicinity as police used percussion bombs, which is specifically designed to create confusion.
Late May, Turkey witnessed the beginning of large protests against government plans to raze Gezi Park in Istanbul which has since turned into nationwide anti-government demonstration. The protests took a different ramification with protesters demanding an end to the decade-old "authoritarian" rule of Erdogan.
At least four people, including a police officer, have reportedly died and thousands more injured, with hundreds arrested in clashes with police since the beginning of the anti-government protests. Critics relate the current unrest in Turkey to the absence of a culture of compromise and the failure to tolerate dissent in Turkish democracy.
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