Clashes as Turkish police move into square ; PM says won ' t yield
Written by Mike Miller
Turkish riot police moved on Tuesday into the central Istanbul square at the heart of 10 days of anti-government protests , firing tear gas and water cannon at hundreds of protesters armed with rocks and fireworks .
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan declared he would not yield to the protesters . In a further sign of the effect the crisis has had on financial markets , the central bank said it would intervene if needed to support the lira .
" They say the prime minister is rough . So what was going to happen here ? Were we going to kneel down in front of these ( people )?" Erdogan said after the action began .
" If you call this roughness , I ' m sorry , but this Tayyip Erdogan won ' t change ."
Police backed by armored vehicles moved soon after dawn into Taksim Square , site of the initial protest against government construction plans 10 days ago which sparked the worst unrest in decades .
Bulldozers cleared barricades , but by early evening hundreds of protesters remained on one side and black smoke from bonfires of rubbish and plastic mingled with tear gas . Demonstrators skirmished with police .
Tear gas drifted into the lobby of an upmarket hotel , overwhelming some guests who were moved to the basement .
What began as a protest at redevelopment plans for Gezi Park , a leafy corner of the square , has grown into an unprecedented challenge to Erdogan .
Victor in three consecutive elections , he says the protests are engineered by vandals , terrorist elements and unnamed foreign forces . His critics say his unyielding talk has made the crisis worse .
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" A comprehensive attack against Turkey has been carried out ," Erdogan told a parliamentary group meeting of the AK Party he founded in 2001 and led to power in 2002 .
" The increase in interest rates , the fall in the stock markets , the deterioration in the investment environment , the intimidation of investors - the efforts to distort Turkey ' s image have been put in place as a systematic project ," he said .
Thousands packed into Gezi Park , now a ramshackle settlement of tents at the edge of the square ; among their number leftists , environmentalists , liberals , students and professionals who see the development plan as symptomatic of overbearing government .
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