Proface

In central Istanbul’s Taksim Square, clashes between police and protesters are commonplace. Activists from myriad political groups regularly flood the city’s main square to make their stand. The agitators are usually met by Turkey’s feared riot police, who disperse them with tear gas, water cannons and batons. Police chase demonstrators down nearby Istiklal Street, Istanbul’s famous and bustling pedestrian thoroughfare, past cafés and brand-name shops as storekeepers close their windows to keep out the tear gas. But the demonstrations gripping the Taksim area this week have had the feel of something new. What started as a small sit-in to save a beloved local park has seen thousands of people take the streets in a broader protest against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Central Istanbul is now a jarring scene of mayhem, with ambulance sirens blaring and protesters battling the cops. By Thursday evening, activists had swarmed Istiklal Street, erecting Cheap Soccer Cleats barriers by overturning potted trees, as police fired their water cannons and volley after volley of tear gas. Dozens of people were reportedly injured and detained. “I don’t think this will stop,” said Ilker Ortac, a 40-year-old writer, standing amid a surging crowd with a surgeon’s mask hanging off of his face.