ISTANBUL — Protesters continued to clash with police over the weekend as they expressed grievances over Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rule.
For several days, streams of demonstrators filled the streets around the city's Taksim area where plans to build a shopping center on the grounds of Gezi park set off opposition that swelled into mass anger over Erdogan and his government. The prime minister's supporters credit him with building up the country's economy and say extreme secularists are merely trying to create divisions. Yet protesters say they're frustrated with what they consider the regime's attempts to reach into their personal lives, such as when it comes to alcohol consumption.