ISTANBUL — Turkish riot police used tear gas and water cannons Friday to end a peaceful sit-in by hundreds of people trying to prevent trees from being uprooted in an Istanbul park. The dawn raid ignited a furious anti-government protest that took over the city’s central square and spread to other cities.
In a victory for the protesters, an Istanbul court later ordered the temporary suspension of the project to uproot the trees. But demonstrators across the country kept up protests denouncing what they called a heavy-handed crackdown and a government seen as displaying increasingly authoritarian tendencies.
Police took action on the fourth day of the sit-in against a government plan to revamp Istanbul’s main square, Taksim. Officers clashed with demonstrators in surrounding areas, firing tear-gas canisters and pushing people back with water cannons. Smoke from the gas filled the square.
Several protesters were injured when a wall they climbed on collapsed during a police chase, and at least two people — including a journalist — were hit in the head by tear-gas canisters. Two opposition legislators were among several hospitalized after being affected by the gas, the private Dogan news agency reported.
Protesters also marched in Ankara and Izmir.
The Istanbul protesters were demanding the square’s Gezi Park be protected from plans that include the construction of a shopping mall.
