Summary Protesters wanted to enter a park which had been cordoned off by police.
ANKARA, Turkey (Agencies) - Police in Istanbul are using tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters gathered at the city s landmark Taksim Square with the intention of entering a park which has been cordoned off by police.
A few thousand people had converged on the square Saturday despite warnings from the city s governor that the protest is illegal and police would break it up.
Organizers said protesters would serve notice to authorities of a court decision that has annulled redevelopment plans for Taksim and break through police cordons.
The park has been cordoned off since June 15, when police routed environmentalists who occupied it amid widespread anti-government protests in June.
Police fired teargas and watercannon to disperse protesters in a central Istanbul square on Saturday as they gathered to enter a park that was the centre of anti-government protests last month.
The Taksim Solidarity Platform, combining an array of political groups, had called for a march to enter the sealed off Gezi park, but the governor of Istanbul warned any such, gathering would be confronted by the police.
A police crackdown on a group protesting against the planned redevelopment of Gezi Park, a leafy corner of Taksim, triggered a nationwide wave or protest last month against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, accused by his critics of becoming increasingly authoritarian after a decade in power.
