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Police, protesters clash

Published:Wednesday | June 12, 2013 | 12:00 AM
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Turkish riot police fire tear gas during clashes at Taksim Square.
A man who had thrown a stone at a protester (centre) runs to avoid being attacked, during clashes in Taksim Square in Istanbul on Tuesday.
A girl is evacuated on a stretcher after riot police flooded Gazi Park.
A couple of protesters run to avoid a policeman.
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ISTANBUL (AP):

Hundreds of riot police overran improvised barricades at Istanbul's Taksim Square yesterday, firing tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons in running battles with protesters who have been occupying the area for more than a week.

The police raid, which came on the 12th day of nationwide anti-government protests, sparked clashes with groups of demonstrators well into the afternoon. Many other protesters fled into the adjacent Gezi Park, where hundreds have been camping out to stop developers from cutting down trees in the park.

As police moved in, bulldozers began demolishing the barricades and the makeshift shelters.

A peaceful demonstration against the park's redevelopment has morphed into a test of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's authority and a rejection of what some see as his autocratic ways.

OUT OF PATIENCE

Erdogan, however, made it clear yesterday that he had come to the end of his patience with the protesters, whom he accused of sullying Turkey's image abroad.

"To those who ... are at Taksim and elsewhere taking part in the demonstrations with sincere feelings, I call on you to leave those places and to end these incidents, and I send you my love. But for those who want to continue with the incidents, I say: 'It's over.' As of now, we have no tolerance for them," Erdogan said, speaking in the capital, Ankara, as the raid was taking place.