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[Mictlantecuhtli]

Firing fireworks at police vehicles. That's gonna work. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Mixed with molotovs, seemed to work!

[olemars]

It seems the police are spraying water mixed with pepper spray. I haven't been able to discern a solid confirmation yet, but as the water is a weird orange/red color, it seems evident that it's mixed with something.

Sounds like turkish police is learning from the egyptian police. They mixed water with sand.

[Tarran]

There goes a barrier. Took them a while, but the police got through.

Last I saw it looked like people were still protesting on a roof-thing over to the side of another street(?) with another barrier though.

[Sheb]

I guess we can expect massive counter-protests tonight. It's Taksim they're invading right?

@Myroc: How can you tell the molotovs thowers are policemen? Not that it surprise me, but I wonder how you can tell from a livefeed.

[Myroc]

@Myroc: How can you tell the molotovs thowers are policemen? Not that it surprise me, but I wonder how you can tell from a livefeed.

Not from watching the feed itself, but from the protestors commenting on it. The authenticy is debatable, but it seems rather odd that the protestors would suddenly start throwing freaking molotovs around.

[SalmonGod]

@Myroc: How can you tell the molotovs thowers are policemen? Not that it surprise me, but I wonder how you can tell from a livefeed.

Not from watching the feed itself, but from the protestors commenting on it. The authenticy is debatable, but it seems rather odd that the protestors would suddenly start throwing freaking molotovs around.

Especially when this first example of such behavior coincides with a major confrontation that was obviously planned by police.  The fact that molotovs started flying as soon as police showed up means we're supposed to believe that the protesters just happened to be expecting that kind of attack, and prepared a bunch of molotovs in advance.  I know they're not exactly time-consuming to prepare, but it sounds like a bunch of them were on hand immediately.

[Sheb]

The protesters were preparing the attacks, the official excuse for them was to remove barricades, and what is the use of barricades if not to protect yourself from attacks?

[XXSockXX]

Wow, this is bad...

According to german media the protesters did use molotovs AFTER the police started using water cannons, tear gas (which they had promised not to use anymore on Taksim) and attacked brutally after arriving under the pretense of just clearing the area around an Atatürk monument.
Some media pics here and here.

A german magazine that has a reporter there claims dozens of people (among them elderly women and female students) were badly injured, many suffered head wounds and at least one man died.

Apparently the meeting with protesters will not happen, as representatives didn't know about it. However 30 lawyers are reported to have been arrested. They had offered to defend protesters.

While protesters mobilize people via social media, Erdogan pulls something from Dictatorship 101 and mobilizes people, according to reddit, by poorly photoshopping them into press pictures.

(links are mostly in german, but you get the picture...)

[Sheb]

That pictures is from 2009.

[XXSockXX]

That pictures is from 2009.

Ok. There goes my respect for german journalism. At least they didn't claim they'd verified it...

[SalmonGod]

That pictures is from 2009.

Pff... lazy dictators can't even come up with new material.

[XXSockXX]

At least Gezi Park seems to have remained peaceful. From what I read, police went in about 4 hours ago, but was prevented from doing anything by human chains and non-violent means.
Turkish sources say 50 lawyers have been arrested.

[Owlbread]

I'm in Istanbul right now, I was going to report to you guys after I got back home but seeing as things have been hairy today I thought I might as well say a little bit. I'm posting this from my ps vita. Where I'm staying is completely untouched - around the tourist areas anyway - and I wouldn't even know that there was a protest going on if I hadn't seen the news (biased against protestors) or the thick, black clouds of smoke coming from Taksim over the horizon.

I tried to go and see the square but the metro to that area was closed off. I talked to a waiter at a restaurant about it but he basically said that it's another part of the city - nothing to do with them. At that point two chaps in V for Vendetta masks walked past, the only ones I have seen yet. When I get back to bonnie Scotland I will upload a few pictures of the smoke. Smelled like burning tires.

[XXSockXX]

Our authorities say it's still safe for tourists in Istanbul, but you should maybe avoid certain areas like Taksim and Besiktas and anything that looks like a gathering, because some tourists have been getting between the lines (though they probably had joined the protests).

Try to have a fun trip and don't get involved. Would be a huge blow to scottish independence if you were hurt or arrested. 

[Owlbread]

Our authorities say it's still safe for tourists in Istanbul, but you should maybe avoid certain areas like Taksim and Besiktas and anything that looks like a gathering, because some tourists have been getting between the lines (though they probably had joined the protests).

Try to have a fun trip and don't get involved. Would be a huge blow to scottish independence if you were hurt or arrested. 

Thank you sir, I could have tried to make my way there on foot but it was a hell of a trek and, to be honest, after hearing bits about how bad it was I'd be too much of a cowardly custard to get close. I heard quite a few ambulances today, along with police cars.

It's quite disconcerting when you can hear the sirens and you can see the smoke, all the while fellows in sailor's caps and umbrella hats are still flogging their wares to tourists - "Hello my friend! Where you from? I have just the book for you my friend! Where you from? Hello my friend! Trip bosphorous! You want trip bosphorous two hour!"