Protesters clashed with cops over control of Taksim Square in Istanbul as the conservative Muslim Prime Minister’s crackdown on two weeks of demonstrations hit a fever pitch.

Cops stormed the square with rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons, prompting most of the peaceful protesters to abandon the area for now.  The indiscriminate use of force caught up many international reporters who told their viewers about what had happened. 

Many of them sought refuge in Gezi Park, where PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government had said it would allow protesters to remain as long as they were peaceful.  But reporters say cops launching US-made tear gas canisters into the park as well, clearly caught on any of hundreds of cell phone videos in the area.

But with the peaceful protesters gone, the not-so-peaceful protesters willing to fight came back and retook the square for a while, setting bonfire and throwing firecrackers at police.  The early morning hours saw more back and forth action.

Many people were taken away by ambulance, and some claimed that at least one protester was killed overnight.  But the Turkish Human Rights Foundation says that from the time the mass protests began at the end of May through the beginnings of Tuesday’s melee, four people were killed, including one policeman.