Riot police used a water cannon and tear gas to disperse
protesters at the occupied Gezi Park in Istanbul on Saturday.
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images  ISTANBUL—Turkey's riot police
launched a crackdown against antigovernment demonstrators in
Istanbul on Saturday, clearing an occupied park and sparking
clashes across the city less than two hours after Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a final call to leave the area.  The
move to clear the encampment at Gezi Park—epicenter of 17 days
of antigovernment protests—with tear gas and water cannon, could
risk hardening protesters resolve and potentially widen the
divisions in Turkish society that have in previous decades
contributed to cycles of violence.  Nationwide antigovernment
protests erupted across Turkey almost three weeks ago when riot
police sought to disperse an environmental protest at Gezi Park
using tear gas and water cannon sparking violent clashes that
have left four people dead and more than 5000 injured.
Following almost a week of relati