After a night of wide-ranging violence in Istanbul, a role reversal occurred: Turkish security forces occupied Taksim Square and anti-government protesters were left on the outside looking in.

Police use teargas against protesters trying to enter Taksim Square as prime minister holds rally in different party of the city

Thousands of defiant protesters attempting to converge on central Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Sunday were kept away by police firing repeated rounds of teargas, as the government maintained a hard line against rekindled demonstrations.

Updated: Worst violence yet. It appears the government is making a final brutal push against demonstrators and their supporters. It has commandeered municipal ferries and string them with AKP flags to bring its supporters into Istanbul for a big rally. Egemen Bağış, Turkey?s EU Minister, said last night that anyone who enters Taksim Square will be considered a member or a supporter of a terrorist organization.

Riot police storm Istanbul’s Taksim square to evict hundreds of anti-government protesters, just hours after an ultimatum from prime minister Tayyip Erdogan

After a fortnight of missteps, the prime minister grasps that the protests are harming his regime. But he has not recognised they are unlikely to end if he removes the freedom his people expect

Teşvikiye, 17:20.

Turkish police storm protest camp using teargas and rubber bullets

Hundreds of security forces move in with bulldozers during a concert for activists, leaving many wounded

Hundreds of riot police used teargas and water cannons to storm the protest camp at the centre of Turkey’s anti-government unrest, following a warning by Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that protesters should quit Gezi Park or be removed by security forces.

Sıraselviler. Taksim. 03:30

Protesting Kurds finding solidarity in Gezi

Rowdy Istanbul demonstrations pull disparate groups together.

Turkey’s conservatives coalesce under Erdogan

The AK Party has united social conservatives and presided over a burgeoning economy, but also left the nation divided

This photo is from an earlier night…

Erdogan’s conservative shift draws fire

Turkey’s prime minister was once championed for implementing democratic reform, but critics accuse him of losing touch.