ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – A lone, silent vigil by a man in Istanbul inspired copycat protests on Tuesday, as police detained dozens of people across Turkey in an operation linked to three weeks of often violent demonstrations against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Overnight in Ankara, riot police used teargas and water cannon to disperse hundreds of people who had gathered in and around the government quarter of Kizilay.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Performance artist Erdem Gunduz became the new symbol of anti-government protests in Turkey on Tuesday after his eight-hour vigil in Taksim Square earned him the nickname “the Standing Man”.

Images of Gunduz standing quietly in the large, open square, the cradle of three weeks of often violent unrest, have struck a chord with sympathizers more used to witnessing stone-throwing youths battling police tear gas and water cannon.

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s deputy prime minister said on Monday the armed forces could be called up if needed to help quell popular protests that have swept Turkish cities in the last two weeks, the first time the possibility of a military role has been raised.

Bulent Arinc made the remarks in Ankara, where 1,000 striking trade union workers faced off briefly against police backed by several water cannon, before police retreated and the crowd left.

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish riot police backed by water cannon faced off with around 1,000 trade union workers in the capital Ankara on Monday, after a weekend of some of the worst clashes since anti-government protests erupted late last month.

Police officers used megaphones to order workers to stop their march towards Ankara’s central Kizilay district.

ANKARA/ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish riot police backed by water cannon faced off with around 1,000 trade union workers in the capital Ankara on Monday, after a weekend of some of the worst clashes since anti-government protests erupted late last month.

Police officers used megaphones to order workers to stop their march towards Ankara’s central Kizilay district.

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Riot police fired occasional bursts of teargas in Istanbul on Sunday after a night of unrest to try to prevent anti-government demonstrators from regrouping ahead of a rally by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party.

Bulldozers removed barricades and municipal workers swept the streets around the central Taksim Square, sealed off by police, after thousands took to the streets overnight following a raid by riot police firing teargas and water cannon to evict demonstrators from the adjoining Gezi Park.

ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told protesters on Friday he would put redevelopment plans for an Istanbul park on hold until a court rules, striking a markedly more conciliatory tone after two weeks of fierce anti-government demonstrations.

Financial markets rose on hopes that environmentalists who oppose the construction on Gezi Park would be satisfied, but it remained unclear whether other protesters with a wide variety of grievances against Erdogan would go home.

ISTANBUL/ANKARA, June 14 (Reuters) – Turkish protesters said
on Friday Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had pledged not to push
ahead with plans to redevelop an Istanbul park until a court
ruled on the project, in what they heralded as a positive sign
after two weeks of protest.

Erdogan met a delegation overnight mostly made up of actors
and artists but also including two members of the umbrella
protest group Taksim Solidarity, hours after saying his patience
had run out and warning protesters occupying Gezi Park to leave.

ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the governor of Istanbul made what appeared to be final efforts to end two weeks of anti-government unrest by negotiation on Friday, meeting opponents of controversial plans to redevelop a city park.

Erdogan met a delegation mostly made up of actors and artists but also including two members of the umbrella protest group Taksim Solidarity, hours after saying his patience had run out and warning protesters occupying Gezi Park to leave.

ISTANBUL/ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish demonstrators demanded the sacking of police chiefs on Wednesday over a fierce crackdown on days of unprecedented protest against what they see as Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian rule.

A delegation of activists met Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc at his office in Ankara and demanded the release of detained demonstrators, a halt to the police use of tear gas, and the removal of senior officers who oversaw the crackdown.