Protestors and riot police clashed for a second day in Istanbul on Saturday, a day after an environmental protest flared into a massive outcry against Turkey's Islamist-rooted government.
The unrest, which has spread to other cities, marks one of the biggest protests since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan first came to power in 2002 and has exposed growing discontent with what critics say is his government's increasingly conservative and authoritarian agenda.
On Saturday police fired tear gas at protestors gathering in Taksim Square, the epicenter of the demonstrations that have left dozens of people injured and have earned Turkey a rare rebuke from its ally Washington.
Hours earlier, several hundred protestors waving Turkish flags advanced despite police firing water cannon and crossed the Bosphorus Bridge to the European side of the city, according to local media.
The unrest erupted into anti-government demonstrations after police on Friday moved into Taksim to break up a protest against the razing of a nearby park.
Clashes raged during the night, as thousands of people marched through the city, some banging pots and pans as residents shouted support from the windows.
Others held up cans of beer in defiance of a recent law, supported by the Islamist-rooted ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which restricts the sale of alcohol and prohibits it during the nighttime hours.
The unrest, which has spread to other cities, marks one of the biggest protests since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan first came to power in 2002 and has exposed growing discontent with what critics say is his government's increasingly conservative and authoritarian agenda.
On Saturday police fired tear gas at protestors gathering in Taksim Square, the epicenter of the demonstrations that have left dozens of people injured and have earned Turkey a rare rebuke from its ally Washington.
Hours earlier, several hundred protestors waving Turkish flags advanced despite police firing water cannon and crossed the Bosphorus Bridge to the European side of the city, according to local media.
The unrest erupted into anti-government demonstrations after police on Friday moved into Taksim to break up a protest against the razing of a nearby park.
Clashes raged during the night, as thousands of people marched through the city, some banging pots and pans as residents shouted support from the windows.
Others held up cans of beer in defiance of a recent law, supported by the Islamist-rooted ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which restricts the sale of alcohol and prohibits it during the nighttime hours.
