stanbul (CNN) — Turkish riot police in sizable numbers moved into Taksim Square on Tuesday morning, where they engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse with a small, hard-core group of protesters.
The protesters lobbed Molotov cocktails at armored vehicles, which responded by spraying water cannons.
The demonstrators, using wooden boards as shields, would pull back — only to return again, lobbing cocktails and firecrackers and flashing “victory” signs.
Smoke from tear gas and fireworks wafted through the air as the armored vehicles shoved away makeshift barriers set up by the demonstrators.
The small group reappeared, this time in larger numbers and surrounded an armored vehicle.
Police deployed multiple canisters of teargas and fired water cannons, sending them scattering again.
“If you stop throwing rocks, we will not use tear gas,” the police told the raucous group over loud speakers. “We don’t want you to get hurt, please obey.”
Police move in on Turkey’s Taksim Square
Turkey protesters dig in for long haul
At Gezi Park, the seat of the protest, however, the situation was relatively calm.
There, demonstrators milled about as officers in full riot gear huddled together.
“Look we are not coming into Gezi Park,” the loud speakers said.
“Most of the crowd is situated in the park,” said Efe Songun, who attended the protests. “They are shouting their slogans.”
A show of force
The police movement came one day before Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan planned to meet with protest organizers. The presence appeared more to be a show of force at the square than an effort to flush out protesters who have been camped there for days.
The demonstrations in Turkey started as a small sit-in over plans to bulldoze the park — the last green space in central Istanbul — and replace it with a shopping mall.
But they have grown into a protest across the political spectrum.
Demonstrators have demanded Erdogan’s resignation, accusing his government of creeping authoritarianism.
The result has been the biggest challenge to Erdogan and his governing Justice and Development Party during their decade in power.
Erdogan fights back
And the prime minister has fought back.
In speeches, Erdogan has said he has no tolerance for what he calls illegal demonstrations.
Sunday, he slammed protesters, warning that “even patience has an end.”
He criticized protesters’ tactics and challenged them to beat him at the ballot box.
“All they do is destroy. They attacked public buildings; they burned public buildings. They burned the cars of civilians,” he said.
“Let’s face off at the ballot box in seven months. If you are saying democracy and freedom, if you are saying rights and freedoms, you cannot achieve that with violence. Only within the laws, you can achieve it.”
Violence at past protests
Previous protests have met with a harsher police response, garnering broad criticism from inside and outside of Turkey’s borders.
Since the demonstrations started May 31, two protesters have been killed. One was hit by a car in Istanbul; the other was shot in the head by unknown assailants in Antakya, near the border with Syria.
A police captain died after falling from a bridge last week, the Adana governor’s office said.
The Turkish Medical Association claimed that more than 4,300 people were injured in clashes last week. Only a few dozen sustained serious injuries.
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