Protesters run as the riot police fire water cannon at Taksim Square
in Istanbul June 22, 2013 (Reuters / Marko Djurica)
Turkish riot police fired water cannons and tear gas to clear Istanbul's Taksim Square from thousands of protesters, who returned to the site after PM Tayyip Erdogan blamed the massive protests on Turkey’s “enemies from abroad”.
The protestors gathered in the square holding carnations and Turkish national flags in their hands, with no political banners on display.
The police didn’t let the people return to Gezi Park, which has been cordoned off since last week. The crowd condemned the closure of the park, chanting: "Open park belonging to the public."
After warning the people to disperse, the riot police used water cannons to quell the demonstration.
The crowd quickly scattered, with the protesters shouting: "Police, don't betray your people!" Stand-offs continued in side streets with Twitter reports of further water cannoning and even teargassing.
Water cannon trucks were then parked at several entry points to Taksim to prevent the demonstrators from regrouping.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, took part in the pro-governmental ‘Respect for National Will’ rally in the Black Sea port city of Samsun.
In his speech, he touched upon the Gezi Park protests, saying that the whole action was masterminded by the enemies of Turkey from abroad.
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