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.

On Sunday afternoon, thousands covered the entirety of the tree-lined park and adjoining square waving Turkish flags and chanting slogans against fascism and calling for the government to resign. Young men stood atop vandalized vehicles with shattered windows while others used spray paint to scribble protest messages, adding to graffiti scrawled across storefronts denouncing the prime minister and AKP, his party. Some protesters said they also wanted to show that they are against Erdogan’s policies of involving the country in the Syrian conflict.

“I’m here because I want freedom. I don’t want to live in a country that gives people fascism,” said Gorkem Yilmaz, an automotive company salesman who attended the rally with his wife. “I want my children to live in this country without any government pressure.”