Protesters have set up barricades in Istanbul’s streets after Turkish riot police cleared out the occupation of a park at the centre of the strongest challenge to prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 10-year tenure.

Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas as they drove protesters out of Istanbul’s Taksim Square and neighbouring Gezi Park today, an intervention that came shortly after the prime minister warned that security forces “know how to clear” the area.

Turkey’s prime minister has lashed out at protesters behind a two-week sit-in at an Istanbul park in a boisterous speech to tens of thousands of his supporters.

Police firing water cannons and tear gas have dispersed protesters who erected street barricades near Turkey’s parliament overnight.

Turkey’s prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to halt plans to redevelop an Istanbul park at the centre of two weeks of mass anti-government unrest, in a move protesters welcomed as “positive”.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has asked a small delegation of protesters to persuade the hundreds of others occupying an Istanbul park to withdraw, hopefully by the end of the day.

A meeting between Turkey’s prime minister and representatives of anti-government protesters ended early today.

Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a “last warning” for thousands of protesters to evacuate an Istanbul park at the centre of mass anti-government demos, ratcheting up tensions in two weeks of deadly unrest.

"Lawbreakers" will be removed from Istanbul's Taksim Square, Turkey's Prime Minister declared today, rejecting the European Parliament's resolution condemning the excessive use of force by Turkish riot police against demonstrators.

A protester injured during clashes with Turkish riot police has died, raising the death toll to five from the two-week stand-off, lawyers said.

An eye-catching protest sign in Taksim Square

Riot police fired tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets in day-long clashes in Istanbul that lasted into the early hours today.

In Turkey, violence is flaring again in Istanbul with reports that thousands of protesters are gathering in Taksim Square, which is lined with police.

Hundreds of riot police have stormed improvised barricades at Istanbul’s Taksim Square, firing tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon in running battles with protesters who have been occupying the area for more than a week.

Hundreds of police have begun moving past barricades in Istanbul’s central Taksim Square, which protesters have been occupying for more than a week.

Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan told a rally of thousands of supporters that his patience with anti- government protests had its limits, as tens of thousands flooded an Istanbul square demanding his resignation.

Turkish police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse thousands of demonstrators as the country’s biggest wave of anti-government protests in decades entered its second week with no signs of waning.

A senior European Union official today criticised the Turkish police’s harsh crackdown on protesters, telling an audience that included the prime minister that a “swift and transparent” investigation was needed.

Turkey’s prime minister today rejected claims that he is an authoritarian leader, dismissing protesters as an extremist fringe even as hundreds moved back into the landmark square that was the site of the fiercest anti-government outburst in years.