Dispatch from Istanbul: Anti-government protests grow — and strengthen

What began as a demonstration against turning a park into a building has grown into a massive, wholesale rejection of Turkey's government

Riot police use tear gas to disperse demonstrators during an anti-government protest at Taksim Square in central Istanbul on June 1.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Murad Sezer)

ISTANBUL, TURKEY — If an early victory can be claimed by protesters in this new uprising, it is that Saturday began with tear gas and heavy police confrontation and ended with Itskilal Boulevard and Taksim Square peacefully occupied without a policeman in sight.

(For more background on the movement — which originally was a protest against turning a park into a mall, but has grown to a wholesale rejection of Turkey's government — read my first dispatch here.)

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Ben Pomeroy is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Bon Appetit and HowAboutWe.com. Formerly, he co-founded and produced a web-based radio show about environmental and sustainability issues called Now or Never. Read his blog here.