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.”
By 3 a.m. Sunday, the police were chasing protesters in the streets in Istanbul near the contested park, firing tear gas, water cannons and, according to many demonstrators, rubber bullets. Some protesters hurled rocks and bottles, but most were attempting to march peacefully to Taksim Square. To try to stem the flow of new protesters, the city shut down the subway, ferries and some bus routes and the police were blocking main arteries to Taksim. Earlier in the evening, as violence engulfed the city center, Istanbul’s mayor, Huseyin Mutlu, said on television, “The police will go easy on the protesters.”
He criticized the foreign media for “giving false information about Taksim,” and said, “we should be a loving society, not a clashing one.” Several private television stations, meanwhile, appeared to back off their coverage as the protests intensified. Mr. Mutlu later said the crackdown in the park had lasted only a short time and “did not cause any problems.”
One protester who was in the park at the time of the raid, who gave only his first name, Deniz, said, “They fired sound bombs first, and then the tear gas came, and we were caught totally off guard. It was as if they were trying to kill us, not evacuate the park.”
The luxury Divan Hotel, on the edge of Gezi Park, became a refuge for protesters fleeing the violence. Hundreds of protesters, wearing hard hats and gas masks, filled the lobby, where glass cases of cuff links and silk handkerchiefs were smeared with milk that the injured used to clear their eyes of tear gas. As some kept up their anti-Erdogan chants in the lobby, ambulances arrived and medical workers shuttled in with oxygen tanks and other medical supplies.
“Does anyone have any burn cream?” one man yelled.
Another man sat with his shirt off, fanning his burned skin with his socks. “Two days ago he told us to leave, so we were expecting this,” said the man, referring to Mr. Erdogan. “He’s a dictator.”
Selami Yalcinkaya, 42, said, “I have been through the military coup in 1980s, but haven’t seen such a brutality.” Adding that he had voted for Mr. Erdogan’s party, he said, “This is not an issue of trees any more.”
Then, the police outside rushed the lobby, but protesters wedged themselves inside the revolving door and kept them out. A little while later, the police attacked again, and fired tear gas into the hotel, filling the lobby with white smoke and setting off a mad scramble. Many people fled down the stairs into the ballroom. One of the injured dragged in was a journalist, who kept saying, “pigs, pigs, pigs,” in reference to the police.
The street battles almost surely ensured a tense day in the city on Sunday, with Mr. Erdogan planning a rally meant to show the support he says he has from the “silent majority.”
Mr. Erdogan is supported by roughly half of the population, and the other half is a cross-section of secularists, liberals, urban intellectuals and minorities who are divided in their political views but are increasingly united in opposition to what they view as Mr. Erdogan and his Islamic allies’ attempts to unilaterally impose their views on the country. Many critics have been especially upset by his recent campaign to crack down on alcohol consumption and his pursuit of vast urban development projects, which have enriched construction magnates with close ties to the government.
Mr. Erdogan has also antagonized many secular Turks in smaller ways, for example by often telling women that they should have at least three children.
“He goes as far as getting in people’s bedrooms, he decides what we should eat and drink and how many kids we should have,” said a woman in the hotel lobby, whose shoulders were burned from by chemical-laced water.
As the protests in the streets continued, the tent city in Gezi Park was bulldozed. Crumpled tents lay on the ground, amid plates of food that had not been finished when the police arrived.
Sebnem Arsu and Tim Arango reporded from Istanbul and Michael Schwirtz from New York.
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.”
By 3 a.m. Sunday, the police were chasing protesters in the streets in Istanbul near the contested park, firing tear gas, water cannons and, according to many demonstrators, rubber bullets. Some protesters hurled rocks and bottles, but most were attempting to march peacefully to Taksim Square. To try to stem the flow of new protesters, the city shut down the subway, ferries and some bus routes and the police were blocking main arteries to Taksim. Earlier in the evening, as violence engulfed the city center, Istanbul’s mayor, Huseyin Mutlu, said on television, “The police will go easy on the protesters.”
He criticized the foreign media for “giving false information about Taksim,” and said, “we should be a loving society, not a clashing one.” Several private television stations, meanwhile, appeared to back off their coverage as the protests intensified. Mr. Mutlu later said the crackdown in the park had lasted only a short time and “did not cause any problems.”
One protester who was in the park at the time of the raid, who gave only his first name, Deniz, said, “They fired sound bombs first, and then the tear gas came, and we were caught totally off guard. It was as if they were trying to kill us, not evacuate the park.”
The luxury Divan Hotel, on the edge of Gezi Park, became a refuge for protesters fleeing the violence. Hundreds of protesters, wearing hard hats and gas masks, filled the lobby, where glass cases of cuff links and silk handkerchiefs were smeared with milk that the injured used to clear their eyes of tear gas. As some kept up their anti-Erdogan chants in the lobby, ambulances arrived and medical workers shuttled in with oxygen tanks and other medical supplies.
“Does anyone have any burn cream?” one man yelled.
Another man sat with his shirt off, fanning his burned skin with his socks. “Two days ago he told us to leave, so we were expecting this,” said the man, referring to Mr. Erdogan. “He’s a dictator.”
Selami Yalcinkaya, 42, said, “I have been through the military coup in 1980s, but haven’t seen such a brutality.” Adding that he had voted for Mr. Erdogan’s party, he said, “This is not an issue of trees any more.”
Then, the police outside rushed the lobby, but protesters wedged themselves inside the revolving door and kept them out. A little while later, the police attacked again, and fired tear gas into the hotel, filling the lobby with white smoke and setting off a mad scramble. Many people fled down the stairs into the ballroom. One of the injured dragged in was a journalist, who kept saying, “pigs, pigs, pigs,” in reference to the police.
The street battles almost surely ensured a tense day in the city on Sunday, with Mr. Erdogan planning a rally meant to show the support he says he has from the “silent majority.”
Mr. Erdogan is supported by roughly half of the population, and the other half is a cross-section of secularists, liberals, urban intellectuals and minorities who are divided in their political views but are increasingly united in opposition to what they view as Mr. Erdogan and his Islamic allies’ attempts to unilaterally impose their views on the country. Many critics have been especially upset by his recent campaign to crack down on alcohol consumption and his pursuit of vast urban development projects, which have enriched construction magnates with close ties to the government.
Mr. Erdogan has also antagonized many secular Turks in smaller ways, for example by often telling women that they should have at least three children.
“He goes as far as getting in people’s bedrooms, he decides what we should eat and drink and how many kids we should have,” said a woman in the hotel lobby, whose shoulders were burned from by chemical-laced water.
As the protests in the streets continued, the tent city in Gezi Park was bulldozed. Crumpled tents lay on the ground, amid plates of food that had not been finished when the police arrived.
Sebnem Arsu and Tim Arango reporded from Istanbul and Michael Schwirtz from New York.