Occupy Gezi protest story. Last Night police in uniform and plain clothes sealed off Taksim Square and adjacent Gezi Park, which riot police cleared of thousands of peaceful protesters in a swift operation Saturday evening. The protests in Istanbul began as an environmental sit-in to prevent a development project at Gezi Park, but anger over a violent crackdown there on May 31 quickly spread to dozens of cities and spiraled into a broader expression of discontent with what many say is Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian decision-making.
