A demonstration in a park in Istanbul, Turkey, escalated quickly as police moved in to clear out the protesters.
Reuters reports that tourists are among the hundred-plus injured:
Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon on Friday at protesters occupying a park in central Istanbul, wounding scores including tourists in the harshest crackdown so far on days of anti-government unrest.
The protest at Gezi Park started late on Monday after developers tore up trees but has widened into a broader demonstration against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Friday’s violence erupted after a dawn police raid on demonstrators who had camped for days in the park in anger at plans to build a shopping mall. Clouds of tear gas rose around the area in Taksim Square, long a venue for political protest.
Twitter users are passing along pictures:
http://twitter.com/#!/mirkoschaefer/status/340446801981214722 http://twitter.com/#!/_ozan_cetin/status/340499280362086401 http://twitter.com/#!/acarvin/status/340510046888808448 http://twitter.com/#!/IvanCNN/status/340464086984822787 http://twitter.com/#!/SodaLemonSalt/status/340518389556600833 http://twitter.com/#!/alisteaparty/status/340424986101698560 http://twitter.com/#!/sarhosadam/status/340466344711581696 http://twitter.com/#!/IvanCNN/status/340507333081841664Why, yes it did.
Video of one protester finding out the hard way that water cannons pack a wallop:
This particular revolution is apparently not being televised locally:
http://twitter.com/#!/IvanCNN/status/340492752133439488
