04:17
Tieng Anh Vui
A bulldozer made its way towards the prime minister's office, as Catharina Moh reports
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan says four days of anti-government protests do not constitute a Turkish Spring.
At a news conference before a trip to Morocco, he said the protests were organised by extremists and accused the opposition of provoking "his citizens".
The protests initially targeted plans to build on a treasured Istanbul park.
They have spread into nationwide anti-government unrest. Protesters clashed with police again on Monday after more overnight violence in Istanbul.
I have covered Syntagma in Athens, the Occupy protests and reported from Tahrir Square in Cairo. This is different to all of them. First, it is massive: the sheer numbers dwarf any single episode of civil unrest in Greece.
Second, the breadth of social support - within the urban enclave of Istanbul - is bigger than Greece and closer to Egypt. "Everyone is here - except the AK Party" - says one young woman. People nod. In Greece, the urban middle class was split; here the secular middle class is out in force, united across political divisions, to say nothing of football hatreds.
Is this the Turkish Tahrir? Not unless the workers join in: Turkey has a large labour movement, and a big urban poor, working population, and Monday is a work day, so we will see. It is certainly already something more than the Turkish version of Occupy.
Police used tear gas to stop a group of demonstrators marching on the prime minister's office in Istanbul, the private Dogan news agency reports.
Mr Erdogan said during a televised news conference: "There are those attending these events organised by extremists. This is not about Gezi Park anymore. These are organised events with affiliations both within Turkey and abroad.
"The main opposition party CHP has provoked my innocent citizens. Those who make news [and] call these events the Turkish Spring do not know Turkey."
Protesters say the Turkish government is becoming increasingly authoritarian.
They fear Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) is trying to impose conservative Islamic values on the officially secular country and infringe on their personal freedoms, correspondents say.
Officials say more than 1,700 people have been arrested in demonstrations in 67 towns and cities, though many have since been released.
Late on Sunday, the White House said in a statement that all parties should "calm the situation", and reaffirmed that peaceful demonstrations were "part of democratic expression".
The US previously criticised the security forces for their initial response to the protest.
Makeshift hospitals
Timeline of protests
28 May: Small group of people attempt to block the removal of trees in Gezi Park, Istanbul. Police use tear gas and the cutting goes ahead.
29 May: Crowds in the park grow, some setting up camp.
31 May: Police move in to evict protesters, using tear gas and water cannon. Several people are injured. Protests against the police response break out in Izmir, Ankara and elsewhere. The interior ministry promises to investigate.
1 June: Tens of thousands converge on Istanbul's Taksim Square. PM Erdogan condemns the protests and vows development will go ahead. Numbers in the square later swell as the police pull out.
2 June: Protests continue in several towns and cities. Mr Erdogan condemns the "plunderers", but says a mosque will be built in the square.
Overnight, protesters in the Besiktas district of Istanbul tore up paving stones to build barricades, and police responded with tear gas and water cannon.
Mosques, shops and a university in Besiktas were turned into makeshift hospitals for those injured in Sunday night's demonstration.
Several thousand people took part in the protest outside the recently decommissioned Besiktas football stadium.
Unrest was also reported in the capital, Ankara, and the western coastal city of Izmir in the west, as well as Adana in the south and Gaziantep in the south-east.
Last week, the government passed legislation curbing the sale and advertising of alcoholic drinks.
Mr Erdogan says the protesters are undemocratic and have been provoked by the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).
The protests began on a small scale last week over redevelopment plans for the park to make way for the rebuilding of an Ottoman-era barracks, reportedly to house a shopping centre.
The demonstrators say the park is one of the few green spaces in Istanbul, and object to the loss of public space for commercial purposes.
Đăng ký: Tieng Anh Vui
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