ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />STORY: Riot police fired smoke grenades to disperse thousands of protesters staging a commemoration ceremony in Taksim Square on Saturday for those killed during recent unrest.<br/> <br />Protesters confronted the police, who charged at them with shields and fired smoke grenades into the crowd, sending the demonstrators running the opposite direction.<br/> <br />The square has been the cradle of protests triggered when police used force to remove a group of environmentalists opposed to government plans to develop Gezi Park, a green space in central Istanbul which adjoins Taksim.<br/> <br />But they turned into a much broader show of dissent against the government and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who opponents say is an authoritarian leader who is increasingly meddling in their everyday lives.<br/> <br />Erdogan, who has overseen an economic boom during his 10 years in charge, sees himself as a champion of democracy and has been riled by the show of dissent.
