Police, protesters clash in Turkey

Istanbul (CNN) -- Turkish riot police in sizable numbers moved into Taksim Square on Tuesday morning, where they engaged in a game of cat-and-mouse with a small, hard-core group of protesters.

The protesters lobbed Molotov cocktails at armored vehicles and burned one. Police responded by spraying water cannons.

The demonstrators, using wooden boards as shields, would pull back -- only to return again, lobbing cocktails and firecrackers and flashing "victory" signs.

While conditions were relatively calm at Gezi Park, the seat of the protests, riot police moved into the area in force early Tuesday afternoon.

"We will never allow people to push things to us, force things to us," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a gathering of his own Justice and Development Party in parliament. "And we will never force things either."

Turkish protesters wearing gas masks face off against riot police near Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday, June 1 (Photo: CNN)

After touting a long list of achievements in the country, which he credited to his government, Erdogan turned to the street demonstrators in Istanbul, who for more than a week have called for him to step down.

"They say the prime minister is harsh. The prime minister is firm," Erdogan said of their grievances against him. "I'm sorry," he answered them. "This prime minister is not going to change."

Throughout Tuesday morning, smoke from tear gas and fireworks wafted through the air at Taksim Square as the armored vehicles shoved away makeshift barriers set up by the demonstrators.

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