Reuters
Protesters run in panic as riot police and water cannons returned to Istanbul's Taksim Square on Tuesday evening.
ISTANBUL—Turkish police moved to recapture a landmark square in Istanbul on Tuesday, sparking daylong clashes in the heart of the city as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a tougher line against protesters after two weeks of nationwide demonstrations.
Crowds return to Istanbul’s Taksim Square after a day of clashes with police left the square littered with debris amid clouds of smoke. WSJ's Emre Peker reports via WorldStream.
Security forces moved into Taksim Square, the epicenter of protests, around 7:30 a.m., firing tear gas and water cannon, while some of the few thousands of protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails. Battalions of police, which had ceded control of Taksim the day after nationwide protests flared May 31, secured the square's perimeter by 8 a.m.
The incursion failed to end clashes between demonstrators and police, sparking running battles on the periphery of the square, which left 20 people hospitalized, according to the Turkish Medical Association.
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