Despite the street protests against Erdogan , he remains unrivalled as a leader in his AK party , in parliament and on the streets . Many protesters call for his resignation , but others say they just want to moderate his exercise of power .
One organizing group called for a mass protest on the square , where stalemate seemed to prevail . Police were expected to block any attempt to move into the area in the night .
The unrest has knocked investor confidence in a country that has boomed under Erdogan . The lira currency , already suffering from wider market turmoil , fell to its weakest level against its dollar / euro basket since October 2011 .
The cost of insuring Turkish debt against default rose to its highest in ten months , although it remained far from crisis levels .
Western allies have expressed concern about the troubles in a key NATO ally bordering Syria , Iraq and Iran . Washington has held up Erdogan ' s Turkey as an example of an Islamic democracy that could be emulated elsewhere in the Middle East .
The police move came a day after Erdogan agreed to meet protest leaders , whose peaceful demonstration two weeks ago spiraled into anti-government protests in cities across the country after police crushed it using tear gas and water cannon .
" I invite all demonstrators , all protesters , to see the big picture and the game that is being played ," Erdogan said . " The ones who are sincere should withdraw ... and I expect this from them as their prime minister ."
Police removed huge banners hung by protesters from a building overlooking Taksim but the local governor said they had no intention of breaking up a protest on Gezi Park itself . Riot police moved into the park briefly , then withdrew .
Hundreds of protesters , many wearing facemasks and hard hats , gathered on steps leading from the square to the park .
" Our aim is to remove the signs and pictures on the Ataturk statue and the Ataturk Cultural Centre . We have no other aim ," Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu wrote on Twitter .
POLICE APPEAL
Police hung a single Turkish flag and picture of the founder of the Turkish secular state , Mustafa Kemal Ataturk , from the building . Protesters accuse Erdogan of authoritarian rule and some suspect him of ambitions to replace the secular republic with an Islamic order - something Erdogan denies .
" This movement won ' t end here . We ' ve started something much bigger than this park ... After this , I don ' t think people will go back to being afraid of this government or any government ," said student Seyyit Cikmen , 19 , as the crowd chanted " Every place is Taksim , every place resistance ."
Police appealed to the protesters not to throw rocks , calling from loudspeakers , " Dear Gezi friends . We are unhappy with this situation . We don ' t want to intervene . We don ' t want to harm you . Please withdraw ."
Turkey ' s Medical Association said that as of late Monday , 4,947 people had sought treatment in hospitals and voluntary infirmaries for injuries , ranging from cuts and burns to breathing difficulties from tear gas inhalation , since the unrest began more than ten days ago . Three people have died .
Erdogan has repeatedly dismissed the protesters as " riff-raff ". But Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said on Monday leaders of the Gezi Park Platform group had asked to meet him and Erdogan had agreed .
A meeting was expected on Wednesday .
Erdogan has made many democratic reforms , taming a military that toppled four governments in four decades , starting entry talks with the European Union , reining in rights abuses by police and forging peace talks with Kurdish rebels to end a three-decades-old war that has cost 40,000 lives .
His AK Party has taken Turkey from a crisis-prone economy to Europe ' s fastest growing over the past decade , and has won three successive elections , each time with a higher share of the vote .
But the protests , embracing a wide range of people from nationalists and leftists to secular activists and students , have shaken Turkey ' s reputation for stability .
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