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Turkey Protests Erupt Again As Recep Tayyip Erdogan Holds Mass Rally (PICTURES)

LOOK: Fresh Clashes Erupt In Turkey
The Huffington Post UK
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Further clashes have erupted on the streets of Ankara and Istanbul as the Turkish prime minister held a huge rally in front of thousands of supporters.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the cheering crowds in Istanbul it was "his duty" to get rid of the protesters, reports Sky News.

Referring to a police operation on Saturday to eject demonstrators from Taksim Square and Gezi Park in Istanbul, he said: "I said we were at an end. That it was unbearable.

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A protester takes on riot police

"Yesterday the operation was carried out and it was cleaned up.

"Nobody can intimidate us. We don't take orders or instructions from anybody except from God."

Elsewhere in the city police continued to fire water canon and tear gas at protesters attempting to regroup after being evicted from Gezi Park.

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Tens of thousands of people turned op for the pro-government rally

Bulldozers dismantled barricades set up by the protesters as a line of police sealed off Taksim Square.

The demonstration originally started in opposition to plans to redevelop the park but quickly escalated in response to heavy-handed police tactics.

Story continues after slideshow...

Taksim Square
(01 of19)
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A bulldozer clears construction materials used by protesters to make barricades in Taksim square, in Istanbul, Turkey Sunday, June 16, 2013. Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannon took less than half an hour on Saturday to bring to an end an 18-day occupation of an Istanbul park at the center of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year tenure. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (credit:AP)
(02 of19)
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A bulldozer clears construction materials used by protesters to make barricades in Taksim square, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, June 16, 2013. Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannon took less than half an hour on Saturday to bring to an end an 18-day occupation of an Istanbul park at the center of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year tenure. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (credit:AP)
(03 of19)
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Bulldozers clear construction materials used by protesters to make barricades in Taksim square, in Istanbul, Turkey, June 16, 2013. Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannon took less than half an hour on Saturday to bring to an end an 18-day occupation of an Istanbul park at the center of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year tenure. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (credit:AP)
(04 of19)
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Turkish police gather on the steps leading to Gezi park in Taksim square, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, June 16, 2013. Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannon took less than half an hour on Saturday to bring to an end an 18-day occupation of an Istanbul park at the center of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year tenure. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (credit:AP)
(05 of19)
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A line of Turkish police cordons off Taksim square, in Istanbul, Turkey, June 16, 2013. Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannon took less than half an hour on Saturday to bring to an end an 18-day occupation of an Istanbul park at the center of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year tenure. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (credit:AP)
(06 of19)
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A pretzels vendor walks in front of a line of Turkish police cordoning off Taksim square, in Istanbul, Turkey, June 16, 2013. Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannon took less than half an hour on Saturday to bring to an end an 18-day occupation of an Istanbul park at the center of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year tenure. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (credit:AP)
(07 of19)
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A pretzel vendor walks in front of a line of Turkish police cordoning off Taksim Square, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, June 16, 2013. Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannon took less than half an hour on Saturday to bring to an end an 18-day occupation at Taksim Square's Gezi Park at the center of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year tenure. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (credit:AP)
(08 of19)
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A line of Turkish police cordons off Taksim Square, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, June 16, 2013. Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannon took less than half an hour on Saturday to bring to an end an 18-day occupation at Taksim Square's Gezi Park, at the center of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year tenure. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (credit:AP)
(09 of19)
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Taksim Square is deserted after Turkish riot police chased protesters out of Gezi park in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannons took less than half an hour on Saturday to bring to an end an 18-day occupation of the Istanbul park at the center of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year rule. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (credit:AP)
(10 of19)
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Turkish riot police occupy Taksim Square after clashes with protesters at Gezi park, in Istanbul, Turkey, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Turkish riot police firing tear gas and water cannons took less than half an hour on Saturday to bring to an end an 18-day occupation of the Istanbul park at the center of the strongest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year rule .(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) (credit:AP)
(11 of19)
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Protesters run to avoid tear gas during the operation by police to clear the Gezi Park of protesters in Istanbul, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas as they drove protesters out of Istanbul's Taksim Square and neighboring Gezi Park on Saturday, an intervention that came shortly after the prime minister warned that security forces "know how to clear" the area, which had become a symbol of the biggest anti-government protests in decades. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:AP)
(12 of19)
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Police seen during the operation to clear the Gezi Park of protesters in Istanbul, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas as they drove protesters out of Istanbul's Taksim Square and neighboring Gezi Park on Saturday, an intervention that came shortly after the prime minister warned that security forces "know how to clear" the area, which had become a symbol of the biggest anti-government protests in decades. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:AP)
(13 of19)
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Police seen during the operation to clear the Gezi Park of protesters in Istanbul, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas as they drove protesters out of Istanbul's Taksim Square and neighboring Gezi Park on Saturday, an intervention that came shortly after the prime minister warned that security forces "know how to clear" the area, which had become a symbol of the biggest anti-government protests in decades. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:AP)
(14 of19)
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An ambulance tries to pass through an area where police fire tear gas at protesters during an operation to clear the Gezi Park in Istanbul, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas as they drove protesters out of Istanbul's Taksim Square and neighboring Gezi Park on Saturday, an intervention that came shortly after the prime minister warned that security forces "know how to clear" the area, which had become a symbol of the biggest anti-government protests in decades. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:AP)
(15 of19)
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Police seen during the operation to clear the Gezi Park of protesters in Istanbul, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas as they drove protesters out of Istanbul's Taksim Square and neighboring Gezi Park on Saturday, an intervention that came shortly after the prime minister warned that security forces "know how to clear" the area, which had become a symbol of the biggest anti-government protests in decades. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:AP)
(16 of19)
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Protesters, background, and media run to avoid police water cannon during an operation to evacuate the Gezi Park in Istanbul, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas as they drove protesters out of Istanbul's Taksim Square and neighboring Gezi Park on Saturday, an intervention that came shortly after the prime minister warned that security forces "know how to clear" the area, which had become a symbol of the biggest anti-government protests in decades. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:AP)
(17 of19)
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A protestor is seen as police evacuate protestors from the Gezi Park in Istanbul, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas as they drove protesters out of Istanbul's Taksim Square and neighboring Gezi Park on Saturday, an intervention that came shortly after the prime minister warned that security forces "know how to clear" the area, which had become a symbol of the biggest anti-government protests in decades. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:AP)
(18 of19)
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Police fire water cannon to clear protestors from Gezi Park in Istanbul, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas as they drove protesters out of Istanbul's Taksim Square and neighboring Gezi Park on Saturday, an intervention that came shortly after the prime minister warned that security forces "know how to clear" the area, which had become a symbol of the biggest anti-government protests in decades. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:AP)
(19 of19)
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Police stand atop Gezi Park during an operation to evacuate protestors from Gezi Park in Istanbul, Saturday, June 15, 2013. Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas as they drove protesters out of Istanbul's Taksim Square and neighboring Gezi Park on Saturday, an intervention that came shortly after the prime minister warned that security forces "know how to clear" the area, which had become a symbol of the biggest anti-government protests in decades. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (credit:AP)

Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasing authoritarianism quickly became the focus of anger as similar protests erupted across the country in support.

Last week Erdogan said: "They burn and destroy. They destroy the shops of civilians. They destroy the cars of civilians.

"They are low enough to insult the prime minister of this country."

EU Minister Egemen Bagis told Turkey's Kanal 24 television the protesters were "terrorists".

He said: "There are illegal groups there. Which country will turn a blind eye if a public space is occupied by a marginal group."

In a slightly surreal moment on Wednesday, a duo of musicians brought some welcome calm to the square after a grand piano was wheeled into Gezi Park.

Five thousand people have been injured and four killed, reports the BBC.

Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International's researcher on Turkey, who is currently in Istanbul, said: "Following a night of shocking police violence, the authorities are now denying due process to those they have detained.

"The police must released them immediately or disclose their location and allow access to family members and lawyers.

"I did not see any violence being used by the protesters against the police while I was observing the protests in Taksim or in nearby Cihangir from 8.30pm until the early hours of the morning. During this time police continually attacked protesters with tear gas and water cannon."

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