Reuters is calling the police crackdown on protests in Istanbul the "harshest ... so far on days of anti-government unrest."

They weren't kidding.

This video shows an irate protester get outright blasted in the face with a high-powered water canon. He looks to be unconscious.

The protest started Monday in response to the government's removal of trees, and has since blossomed into a general rejection of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party.

Watch: