Police use tear gas against crowd who tries to cross the Bosphorus Bridge

ISTANBUL

Thousands in Istanbul walked across the arterial roads hours after the police's crackdown in Taksim.

As thousands in Istanbul gathered on the streets in several districts of the city to march to Taksim Square, hours after the muscled evacuation of Gezi Park, police used tear gas in many areas to quell the crowd. Police intervened on one of the city's arterial roads against protesters at the Asian side who had gathered in an attempt to cross the Bosphorus Bridge on foot in the direction of Taksim Square. Many drivers in cars have been severely affected by the intense tear gas. 

Earlier, another group pf protesters had gathered at the Kadıköy district to walk in the direction of the bridge. People had joined the protesters from their houses, banging pots to make noise while cars on the road sounded their horns. Police intervened against the group, barring the road to prevent the protesters reaching the bridge. The security forces also called on them to continue demonstrations on Bağdat Avenue, the commercial street of the Asian side, where many also gathered following the crackdown in Taksim. Clahses later broke out at Fikirtepe area between as police used tear gas to quell protesters. 

Many protesters also gathered on the European side in neighborhoods such as Etiler, Bakırköy and Mecidiyeköy, walking on the arterial roads disrupting the car traffic. Clashes broke out between police and protesters near Mecidiyeköy and spread to the side streets of the centric neighborhood.

People in the sensitive Gazi neighborhood, home to many Alevis and where clashes had continued on the sidelines of the protests, also gathered in the streets.

The police’s heavy-handed intervention to evacuate Gezi Park came only an hour after the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ultimatum to protesters, giving them a day to end demonstrations. Clashes between the police and protesters are continuing around the park.