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Turkish Leader Said He Had a ‘Duty’ to Clear Istanbul Park

Tolga Bozoglu/European Pressphoto Agency

Protestors continued to march in the area of Taksim Square on Sunday, hours after police cleared an encampment in Gezi Park that had become the center of anti-government demonstrations. More Photos »

ISTANBUL — Government forces in Turkey moved swiftly on Sunday to quash the scattered vestiges of the protest movement against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, chasing down antigovernment protesters across the city, including into stores and luxury hotels where they sought refuge after the park at the center of the unrest was forcefully cleared the night before.

Attempts by protesters to regroup and converge again on Gezi Park in Taksim Square on Sunday were rebuffed by volleys of tear-gas. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of government supporters, many arriving on buses from around the country, rallied Sunday in Istanbul. Speaking at the rally, Mr. Erdogan all but declared an end to the protests, which have presented him with his gravest political challenge in more than 10 years in power.

“I said we were at an end. That it was unbearable,” Mr. Erdogan told the crowd, according to The Associated Press. “Yesterday the operation was carried out and it was cleaned up. It was my duty as prime minister.”

Just days after he appeared ready to compromise, Mr. Erdogan’s patience appears to have run out. After 18 days of demonstrations, he ordered the riot police to storm Taksim Square on Saturday night, setting off a night of chaos in downtown Istanbul that has stretched into daylight.

It is not yet clear how the public will react. Ms. Erdogan remains popular in many parts of the country, though the unrest has exposed severe weaknesses in his government. The protests, which were sparked by complaints against the planned destruction of Gezi Park for an Ottoman-themed shopping mall, have grown into broader anger and nationwide protests over what critics call Mr. Erdogan’s authoritarian style.

Opposition leaders have vowed to press on, and the crackdown is already showing signs of backfiring. On Sunday, two of Turkey’s largest trade unions announced that they would hold a one-day strike on Monday to protest the crackdown on demonstrators in Taksim Square. It was the first time the unions had sided publicly with the protesters, an indicated that the unrest could continue.

On Sunday afternoon, police had cordoned off Taksim Square, obstructing pedestrian and car traffic. At least 14 armored antiriot vehicles were parked in the center of the square, while two antiriot trucks capable of firing tear gas and water cannons were nearby, with police standing beside.

In Turkey’s capital, Ankara, police fired water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters, injuring at least four, The Associated Press reported.

And in an apparent escalation by the government, Turkish television on Sunday showed police detaining medical personnel who had been aiding wounded protesters.

Istanbul’s governor declared public gatherings and meetings on Taksim Square illegal and urged residents to ignore entreaties by opposition leaders to rise up.

“We see the will and intention of marginal groups to engage in clashes with the police on Taksim as it happened in the past,” the governor, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, said in a televised statement. “If citizens join such calls, they would be supporting groups that try to feed an atmosphere of unrest. I would like to express that this would be unfavorable and troubling.”

Mr. Mutlu said that protesters had used firearms against security forces, injuring two officers and that two civilians were also hurt in clashes overnight and Sunday morning.

The Istanbul Doctors Union, however, said that at least 150 people were injured, 6 of whom were serious. One of the injured, a 14-year-old girl, had to undergo an operation because of severe brain trauma, said Ali Ozyurt, the coordinator of a medical center set up to aid people injured in the clashes.

“There is a high but an unknown number of first and second-degree burn injuries because of some substance mixed in pressurized water cannons,” Mr. Ozyurt said. “At least two people were hit by plastic bullets and tear gas canisters.”

Sebnem Arsu and Tim Arango reporded from Istanbul and Michael Schwirtz from New York.


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