TURKISH riot police have moved into Istanbul's Taksim Square, which has been occupied by anti-government protesters for close to two weeks.

Officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets, leading many protesters to flee the square into adjoining Gezi Park. Some activists hurled fireworks, fire bombs and stones at police.

The unrest began after a crackdown on a protest over Gezi Park's redevelopment. The Turkish prime minister said the move was hijacked to cause vandalism.

The original protests have widened, with demonstrators accusing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government of becoming increasingly authoritarian and trying to impose conservative Islamic values on a secular state.

Mr Erdogan defended the police intervention on Tuesday.

In a speech in parliament that was frequently interrupted by applause, he asked: "What did the protesters expect? That we would kneel down before them?"

And he appeared to contradict Istanbul Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu, who had earlier said the police had no intention of breaking up the protest in Gezi Park.

"I invite them to withdraw from the park and I ask this as prime minister.

"I am sorry but Gezi Park is for taking promenades, not for occupation," Mr Erdogan said.

Backed by armoured vehicles and water cannon, officers wearing helmets and carrying shields gathered around the square early on Tuesday before moving past barricades erected by protesters.

They removed protesters' banners which had been hung from a building overlooking the square, replacing them with the national flag and a portrait of the father of the Turkish state, Kemal Ataturk.

The BBC reports from the square that this was a deliberate show of force that may jeopardise plans by Mr Erdogan to meet the protest organisers on Wednesday.

Three people have died and more than 5,000 have been injured since the protests began.

Smaller protests have occurred in the capital Ankara too. Police there have used water cannon and tear gas to break up demonstrations almost every night.