Hundreds of police in riot gear force through barricades in Istanbul's central Taksim Square, pushing many of the protesters who had occupied the site for more than a week into a nearby park.
Officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets, prompting many of the demonstrators to flee into Gezi Park, where they had been camping.
Some groups clashed with police forces at one edge of the square, throwing fireworks, firebombs and stones at police water cannon.
Police took down large banners that had been hung by protesters and replaced them with a large Turkish flag and a picture of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the secular republic 89 years ago after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Huseyin Avni Mutlu, the governor for Istanbul, said in a message issued on his Twitter account that the police operation was to dismount the banners hung on the building and at a monument on the square.
He said people occupying the park at the square would not be touched.
Turkey police move in on protesters
Hundreds of police in riot gear force through barricades in Istanbul's central Taksim Square, pushing many of the protesters who had occupied the site for more than a week into a nearby park.
Officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets, prompting many of the demonstrators to flee into Gezi Park, where they had been camping.
Some groups clashed with police forces at one edge of the square, throwing fireworks, firebombs and stones at police water cannon.
Police took down large banners that had been hung by protesters and replaced them with a large Turkish flag and a picture of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the secular republic 89 years ago after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Huseyin Avni Mutlu, the governor for Istanbul, said in a message issued on his Twitter account that the police operation was to dismount the banners hung on the building and at a monument on the square.
He said people occupying the park at the square would not be touched.
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