LIVE UPDATES: Turkish police clamp down on anti-government protests...

http://rt.com/news/istanbul-park-protests-police-095/#.UamXaisfUW0.twitter

07:06 GMT: Police clashed with groups of stone-throwing young protesters trying to reach Taksim Square in Istanbul.

06:20 GMT: Police are firing teargas to bar the protesters from reaching the main square, AP reported Saturday morning.



05:40 GMT: Security has been stepped up in the metropolis, with police forces drafted from other regions. Some districts in Istanbul have been cordoned off. Traffic is currently at a standstill.

04:55 GMT: Thousands are crossing the Bosphorus Bridge this morning, to get to Taskim Square in the heart of Istanbul, marking the second day of protest turbulence engulfing Istanbul.



02:34 GMT: The photos show angry crowds in the streets of the Turkish capital, Ankara, overnight. Thousands rallied in the center of the city earlier on Friday chanting for the government to resign. Police fired tear gas to disperse several dozen opposition supporters trying to reach the AKP headquarters.




01:20 GMT: Thousands of fans from the three largest soccer teams in Turkey joined the demonstrators in Istanbul, Ayda said.
01:18 GMT: As of 3:00am local time, even the most remote and quiet neighborhoods of Istanbul had joined in the protest, Ayda, a demonstrator, told RT. People are "banging on pots and pans, yelling, honking their car horns on the streets, and yelling slogans like "Erdogan, istifa!" (Turkish: Erdogan, resign!)."
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00:00 GMT: Istanbul resident Tan Tunali told RT Istiklal Caddesi, the street leading to Taksim Square, was almost empty as of 2:00am local time, with the protesters spreading to other streets. “Now a lot of people spontaneously started taking to the streets and probably many of them are trying to get to Taksim.”

Saturday, June 1

23:50 GMT: According to an Istanbul-based activist, who has chosen to go by the alias Pink Pig, the protest is growing bigger. “People are coming from everywhere.” A witness video shows that the demonstration has spread to the Besiktas Sqaure, which is to the west of Taksim Square.

“Today the police used gas bombs and water cannon to get the protesters away from the Gezi park. And then from Taksim square too. They closed all the entries to the Taksim square. They closed the Taksim metro station. Since the morning we smelt gas in the streets of Taksim,” the activist told RT.
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23:19 GMT:

 


22: 40 GMT: Witness says '1000s of people in Ankara closed off the protocol road, marching toward the parliament building.' Earlier reports emerged of the protests and tear-gas having spread from Istanbul's Gezi to the capital Ankara. Protesters also witnessed at two locations in Izmir, according to social media pictures. Thousands are currently reported to be marching towards the Parliament.

22:36 GMT: There are reports that police are teargassing people in a subway station.


22: 31 GMT: Witness says 'military distriburting masks' as police continue with the teargas, adding that it appears 'the military haven't been reined in by the government.'

22:26 GMT:



22:24 GMT: Police said to have used plastic bullets, causing more severe injuries.

22:15 GMT: Six out the twelve protesters injured so far have incurred serious head trauma.
22:00 GMT: 12 protesters injured, 100 receive minor injuries.
20:00 GMT: Police carry out dawn raid against protesters.
21:39 GMT:
 
21:00: GMT: A video shows police using water cannons to disperse protesters at Istanbul's landmark Taksim Square.


21:00 GMT: