Summary Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that he will not show "any more tolerance" for protests.
Istanbul (BBC) - He vowed to end the demonstrations after police cleared Istanbul s Taksim Square, the focal point of unrest for nearly two weeks.
Police used water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets, causing many to flee the square into adjoining Gezi Park.
The unrest began after a crackdown on an environmental protest over Gezi Park s redevelopment.
The protests then widened, with demonstrators accusing Mr Erdogan s government of becoming increasingly authoritarian and trying to impose conservative Islamic values on a secular state.
The prime minister defended the police intervention on Tuesday, saying that an environmental movement had been hijacked by people who wanted to harm Turkey.
Looking out at Taksim Square, I can see the clouds of tear gas that have covered the centre of Turkey s biggest city for much of the morning.
Police trucks have been spewing arcs of water cannon against the protesters, some of whom have responded with chunks of stone and petrol bombs.
The authorities claim this is an attempt to clear the square of banners, tents and flags scattered across it since the protest movement began 12 days ago. T
hey say they will not enter the park that adjoins Taksim, the development of which first sparked the unrest.
The prime minister had called a meeting with protest leaders tomorrow. That announcement was seen as an olive branch - a potential diplomatic means to break the deadlock. But those talks may now be thrown into jeopardy by the strongest police action in Istanbul in over a week.
In a televised speech to members of parliament from his Justice and Development Party (AKP) that was frequently interrupted by applause, he asked: "They say the prime minister is rough. So what was going to happen? Were we going to kneel down in front of these [people]?
"If you call this roughness, I m sorry, but this Tayyip Erdogan won t change."
He also appeared to contradict Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu, who had earlier said the police had no intention of breaking up the protest in Gezi Park.
"To those who... are at Taksim and elsewhere taking part in the demonstrations with sincere feelings: I call on you to leave those places and to end these incidents and I send you my love.
"But for those who want to continue with the incidents I say: It s over. As of now we have no tolerance for them.
"Not only will we end the actions, we will be at the necks of the provocateurs and terrorists and no-one will get away with it," he continued.
"I am sorry but Gezi Park is for taking promenades, not for occupation."
Skirmishes between police and protesters in Taksim Square continued on Wednesday afternoon, reaching the edge of the park.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says protesters actions have infringed on other people s freedom
"Not long ago we heard loud explosions and before that there was a rain of gas bombs falling on to civilians," one protester, Cem Ozen, told the BBC.
"We ve seen many civilians being carried to makeshift medical points. Some people were wounded in the head."
