</head> <body> By Ayla Jean Yackley and Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan rallied hundreds of thousands of supporters at an Istanbul parade ground on Sunday as riot police fired teargas a few kilometres away in the city centre to disperse anti-government protesters. Erdogan told a sea of flag-waving supporters that two weeks of protests had been manipulated by "terrorists" and dismissed suggestions that he was behaving like a dictator, a constant refrain from those who have taken to the streets. Riot police fired teargas into side streets around the central Taksim Square as he spoke, trying to prevent protesters from regrouping after hundreds were evicted from the adjoining Gezi Park, the centre of the demonstrations, late on Saturday. "They say 'you are too tough', they say 'dictator'. What kind of a dictator is this who met the Gezi Park occupiers and honest environmentalists? Is there such a dictator?," Erdogan said to roars of approval from the crowd. "The attitude across Turkey with the pretext of Taksim's Gezi Park is not sincere. It is nothing more than the minority's attempt to dominate the majority ... We could not have allowed this and we will not allow it," he said. Police officers backed by a helicopter, some in plain clothes and carrying batons, used teargas and chased gangs of rock-throwing youths into side streets around Taksim. There were also disturbances in other parts of the city that had so far largely been spared the violence. Protesters lit bonfires and ripped up paving stones near the Galata bridge, which crosses to the historic Sultanahmet district, briefly blocking access to a key tourist area. Thousands fled into side roads as police fired water cannon on a shopping avenue in the upmarket Nisantasi neighbourhood, dozens of them taking refuge in the city's American hospital. Riot police in Ankara also fired teargas on Sunday to try to disperse hundreds of demonstrators blocking streets in the central Kizilay district, after first warning them through megaphones, a Reuters witness said. The umbrella protest group behind the Gezi Park campaign, Taksim Solidarity, called for demonstrators to gather peacefully again in Taksim Square, but Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu made clear they would not be allowed to do so. "After the current environment becomes stable, they can continue exercising their democratic rights," he told reporters. "Under current circumstances we will not allow any gathering." UNDER SIEGE Erdogan, who also addressed supporters of his ruling AK Party in Ankara on Saturday, said the rallies were to kick off campaigning for local elections next year and not related to the unrest, but they were widely seen as a show of strength. The crowds who packed the Kazlicesme festival ground, many of whom walked for kilometres, turned out to support a leader who they feel has been under siege in recent weeks. "We are the silent majority, not the riff-raff who are trying to frighten us. They should be the ones who are afraid, because God is with us ... We are the grandchildren of the Ottomans, like Tayyip," said Ruveyda Alkan, 32, her head covered in a black veil and waving a red Turkish flag. The blunt-talking prime minister has long been Turkey's most popular politician, overseeing a decade of unprecedented prosperity, and his AK Party has won an increasing share of the vote in three successive election victories. But his critics complain of increasing authoritarianism. While the protests pose no immediate threat to his government, they have tarnished Turkey's image as a haven of stability in a turbulent Middle East. Erdogan has repeatedly blamed the international media for painting a distorted picture of the protests and seeking to sully Turkey's reputation. Two union federations said on Sunday they would stage a one-day nationwide strike on Monday in protest at the forced eviction of the Gezi Park protesters. Labour groups representing doctors, engineers and dentists said they too would take part. The protesters, who oppose government plans to build a replica Ottoman-era barracks in the leafy park adjoining Taksim Square, had defied repeated calls to leave but started to reduce their numbers after meetings with Erdogan and local authorities. Their forced eviction triggered one of the worst nights of unrest so far, with the clatter of teargas canisters and blasts from percussion bombs - designed to create confusion rather than injure - echoing into the early hours. The government says the demonstrators are being manipulated by illegal groups seeking to sow instability. "Which country would turn a blind eye if a public space is occupied by a marginal group?" EU Minister Egemen Bagis said on Turkey's Kanal 24 television, citing Istanbul's governor as saying some of the protesters were thought to have had guns. "What did the prime minister say? He said people with good intentions should withdraw. We will deal with terrorists. By not withdrawing from there they created an impression that they are shielding terrorists," Bagis said. A similar police crackdown on peaceful campaigners in Gezi Park two weeks ago provoked an unprecedented wave of protest against Erdogan, drawing in secularists, nationalists, professionals, trade unionists and students. The unrest, in which police fired teargas and water cannon at stone-throwing protesters night after night in cities including Istanbul and Ankara, left four people dead and about 5,000 injured, according to the Turkish Medical Association. (Additional reporting by Seda Sezer, Can Sezer, Asli Kandemir in Istanbul, Jonathon Burch and Humeyra Pamuk in Ankara; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Mike Collett-White) </body> </html> </DataContent> </ContentItem> </NewsComponent> </NewsComponent> </NewsItem> </NewsML>

%xhtml; ]> 20130616T203618+0000 reuters.com 20130616 RTROPT_2013-06-16_20-36-18_BRE9590Q8 1 urn:newsml:reuters.com:20130616:RTROPT_2013-06-16_20-36-18_BRE9590Q8:1 2013-06-16 20:36:18 GMT+00:00 20130610T152249+0000 20130616T203618+0000 OLRTXT Online Report text item POL 11000000 Government / Politics GEN 10000000 General News / Events SECUR 11001002 International / National Security ASIA Asia/Pacific MEAST Middle East EUROP Europe EMRG Emerging Market Countries VIO 16003000 Civil Unrest DIP 11002000 Diplomacy / Foreign Policy NEWS Major News SEEU South-Eastern Europe TR Turkey WEU Western Europe BRE9590Q8 Bangalore IN India 2013-06-16T203618Z_41_BRE9590Q8_RTROPTT_0_OUKWD-UK-TURKEY-PROTESTS.XML Huge rally for Turkey's Erdogan, protesters and police clash Ayla Jean Yackley and Daren Butler Bangalore India16 June 2013 REUTERS (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp OUKWD-UK-TURKEY-PROTESTS OUKWD-UK-TURKEY-PROTESTS:Huge rally for Turkey's Erdogan, protesters and police clash </head> <body> By Ayla Jean Yackley and Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan rallied hundreds of thousands of supporters at an Istanbul parade ground on Sunday as riot police fired teargas a few kilometres away in the city centre to disperse anti-government protesters. Erdogan told a sea of flag-waving supporters that two weeks of protests had been manipulated by "terrorists" and dismissed suggestions that he was behaving like a dictator, a constant refrain from those who have taken to the streets. Riot police fired teargas into side streets around the central Taksim Square as he spoke, trying to prevent protesters from regrouping after hundreds were evicted from the adjoining Gezi Park, the centre of the demonstrations, late on Saturday. "They say 'you are too tough', they say 'dictator'. What kind of a dictator is this who met the Gezi Park occupiers and honest environmentalists? Is there such a dictator?," Erdogan said to roars of approval from the crowd. "The attitude across Turkey with the pretext of Taksim's Gezi Park is not sincere. It is nothing more than the minority's attempt to dominate the majority ... We could not have allowed this and we will not allow it," he said. Police officers backed by a helicopter, some in plain clothes and carrying batons, used teargas and chased gangs of rock-throwing youths into side streets around Taksim. There were also disturbances in other parts of the city that had so far largely been spared the violence. Protesters lit bonfires and ripped up paving stones near the Galata bridge, which crosses to the historic Sultanahmet district, briefly blocking access to a key tourist area. Thousands fled into side roads as police fired water cannon on a shopping avenue in the upmarket Nisantasi neighbourhood, dozens of them taking refuge in the city's American hospital. Riot police in Ankara also fired teargas on Sunday to try to disperse hundreds of demonstrators blocking streets in the central Kizilay district, after first warning them through megaphones, a Reuters witness said. The umbrella protest group behind the Gezi Park campaign, Taksim Solidarity, called for demonstrators to gather peacefully again in Taksim Square, but Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu made clear they would not be allowed to do so. "After the current environment becomes stable, they can continue exercising their democratic rights," he told reporters. "Under current circumstances we will not allow any gathering." UNDER SIEGE Erdogan, who also addressed supporters of his ruling AK Party in Ankara on Saturday, said the rallies were to kick off campaigning for local elections next year and not related to the unrest, but they were widely seen as a show of strength. The crowds who packed the Kazlicesme festival ground, many of whom walked for kilometres, turned out to support a leader who they feel has been under siege in recent weeks. "We are the silent majority, not the riff-raff who are trying to frighten us. They should be the ones who are afraid, because God is with us ... We are the grandchildren of the Ottomans, like Tayyip," said Ruveyda Alkan, 32, her head covered in a black veil and waving a red Turkish flag. The blunt-talking prime minister has long been Turkey's most popular politician, overseeing a decade of unprecedented prosperity, and his AK Party has won an increasing share of the vote in three successive election victories. But his critics complain of increasing authoritarianism. While the protests pose no immediate threat to his government, they have tarnished Turkey's image as a haven of stability in a turbulent Middle East. Erdogan has repeatedly blamed the international media for painting a distorted picture of the protests and seeking to sully Turkey's reputation. Two union federations said on Sunday they would stage a one-day nationwide strike on Monday in protest at the forced eviction of the Gezi Park protesters. Labour groups representing doctors, engineers and dentists said they too would take part. The protesters, who oppose government plans to build a replica Ottoman-era barracks in the leafy park adjoining Taksim Square, had defied repeated calls to leave but started to reduce their numbers after meetings with Erdogan and local authorities. Their forced eviction triggered one of the worst nights of unrest so far, with the clatter of teargas canisters and blasts from percussion bombs - designed to create confusion rather than injure - echoing into the early hours. The government says the demonstrators are being manipulated by illegal groups seeking to sow instability. "Which country would turn a blind eye if a public space is occupied by a marginal group?" EU Minister Egemen Bagis said on Turkey's Kanal 24 television, citing Istanbul's governor as saying some of the protesters were thought to have had guns. "What did the prime minister say? He said people with good intentions should withdraw. We will deal with terrorists. By not withdrawing from there they created an impression that they are shielding terrorists," Bagis said. A similar police crackdown on peaceful campaigners in Gezi Park two weeks ago provoked an unprecedented wave of protest against Erdogan, drawing in secularists, nationalists, professionals, trade unionists and students. The unrest, in which police fired teargas and water cannon at stone-throwing protesters night after night in cities including Istanbul and Ankara, left four people dead and about 5,000 injured, according to the Turkish Medical Association. (Additional reporting by Seda Sezer, Can Sezer, Asli Kandemir in Istanbul, Jonathon Burch and Humeyra Pamuk in Ankara; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Mike Collett-White) </body> </html> </DataContent> </ContentItem> </NewsComponent> </NewsComponent> </NewsItem> </NewsML>