Changed crowd-control tactics by Turkish police left Istanbul dazed on Saturday evening. But there were no deaths, only few injuries and fewer than 40 arrests as thousands of protesters surged against police lines in a failed bid to take central Taksim Square.

The protesters' objective was to occupy the square and adjoining Gezi Park, where brutal police suppression of protests a year ago sparked nationwide outrage.

Beginning peacefully on May 31, 2013, the protesters' first objective was to block government plans to refashion the park as a mall, but the police crackdown spawned protests against the government on a portfolio of issues - and when the dust had settled eight protesters were dead and thousands wounded.

On Saturday, as many as 30,000 police, many of them in civilian garb, were flown and bussed in from across the country to take up positions around the square. Before any protesters could make their way to the square all access was blocked.