DISTURBINGLY QUIET

Taksim Square Cleared of Protesters

After night of clashes.

Tuesday’s night of violence between police and demonstrators in Istanbul’s Taksim Square has left an eerie calm over the area Wednesday, with traffic resuming and new police squads taking the place of those who’d spent the night firing water cannons and tear gas at protesters. Despite promises that police would not attempt to remove people from the square, the overnight clashes came after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered an end to the nearly two weeks of demonstrations that evolved from an environmental crusade to save a beloved park into an anti-government protest. Protesters have been cleared from the square, but some remain encamped at Gezi Park itself. Following the clashes, Erdogan called for dialogue with demonstrators.