On Saturday, riot police pulled back from central Istanbul’s Taksim Square, and the tear gas cleared. But both sides in the conflict gripping Turkey remained firmly entrenched. Thousands of protesters massed in the square, spilling into the surrounding streets. And they showed no signs that they planned to leave—celebrating with beer and wine and erecting barricades out of dumpsters and overturned cars. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, refused to back down. “Taksim Square cannot be a place where extremists run wild,” he said, dismissing the protesters in a speech broadcast on Turkish TV.
Yet Erdogan—who has won three straight elections, the last one handily—has seen his stature battered badly by the worst unrest to grip Turkey in recent memory. The protests started earlier this week as a small effort to save a park from the bulldozers of one of Erdogan’s controversial urban redevelopment plans—but they quickly swelled in the face of police crackdowns and evolved into a broad push against the government. The crowds in Taksim now feature Turks from all walks of life bearing a litany of complaints against Erdogan—accusing him of everything from Islamism and authoritarian tendencies to riddling the city with a preponderance of malls. Similar protests have sprung up across the country.
With police gone, a festive mood settled over Taksim on Saturday that extended deep into the night, as protesters chanted and shot off fireworks. But with no solution in sight, tension also loomed—sporadic clashes between police and protesters broke out elsewhere in the city and the makeshift barricades around Taksim only grew.
These exclusive images from photojournalist Yusuf Sayman provide an up-close look at the Taksim demonstrations as they progressed on Saturday—from the chaos of the clashes to the surreal scenes of celebration that took its place.
– Mike Giglio
Yusuf Sayman
Young protesters rest near Taksim Square Saturday morning on a barricade left over from the previous night.
A woman walks by riot police in Taksim Square Saturday morning. Protesters gathered nearby, but passersby could easily walk between the two sides.
Yusuf Sayman
A car tries to drive through a tear-gas-filled street near Taksim Square.
Yusuf Sayman
Riot police start their charge against demonstrators in Taksim Square. One riot policeman said the group was exhausted after the nonstop clashes.
Clouds of tear gas near Taksim Square.
Yusuf Sayman
A broken shop window on Istiklal Street, near Taksim Square.
Yusuf Sayman
A wounded policeman is helped by colleagues.
Yusuf Sayman
Tear gas was used against protesters.
A barricade built by the protesters near Taksim Square. After police retreated, protesters scrambled to barricade the surrounding streets, hoping to keep the cops from coming back.
Yusuf Sayman
Protesters destroy a news van early Sunday morning in Taksim. Some accused the Turkish press of siding with the government and downplaying this week's demostrations.
Protesters rest in Taksim Square early Sunday morning after a long day of demonstrations. Police retreated from Taksim Saturday afternoon, letting the protesters spend the night. Police remained absent from the square on Sunday afternoon.
Yusuf Sayman
Protesters spend the night in Taksim Square.
Yusuf Sayman
Turkish riot police use water cannons and tear gas to disperse demonstrators during a protest against the planned construction of a new shopping mall at Taksim Square in Istanbul.
Sedat Suna/EPA, via Landov
A protester wears a gas mask to fight against tear gas.
Yusuf Sayman
A demonstrator hurls bottles at police during clashes on central Istanbul's Istiklal Street.
Yusuf Sayman
Riot police prepare to fire tear gas cannisters at demonstrators.
Yusuf Sayman
Protesters take shelter.
Yusuf Sayman
A man falls as police turn a water cannon on demonstrators.
AP
Tear gas drifts down Istanbul's famous Istiklal Street.
Yusuf Sayman
