TURKEY'S president has called for talks to be held with demonstrators after riot police cleared the Istanbul square at the centre of almost two weeks of protest.

Activists had occupied Taksim Square in protest against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the demonstration turned to violence as riot police moved in.

President Abdullah Gul said the government had to engage with its critics but appeared to close ranks with Mr Erodgan, saying violent protests were a different matter.

Mr Erdogan, who has dismissed the demonstrators, was due to meet a group of public figures to discuss the unrest, which began as a peaceful campaign against plans to build on Gezi Park, near the square.

Mr Gul said: "If people have objections then to engage in a dialogue with these people is no doubt our duty.

"Those who employ violence are something different and we have to distinguish them.

"We must not give violence a chance. This would not be allowed in New York, this would not be allowed in Berlin."

Riot police fought running battles with pockets of protesters late on Tuesday night, clearing Taksim Square.

The night had brought some of the worst clashes since the troubles began. Police fired tear gas into thousands of people gathered there, including people in office clothes who had gathered after work, some with children.

The crowd scattered into narrow streets around, leaving a hardcore of protesters to return, lighting bonfires and stoning water cannon. Police then launched tear gas attacks again, the cycle repeating itself until numbers dwindled.

By dawn, the square was strewn with wreckage from bulldozed barricades. Several hundred remained in an encampment of tents in Gezi Park.

Taksim Solidarity, an umbrella group for the activists, said the delegation due to meet Mr Erdogan was not representative.

Bulent Muftuoglu of Solidarity said: "Had Solidarity spoken with anyone in this group to share information, the meeting with the Prime Minister would have meaning. Now it doesn't."

Meanwhile, hundreds of lawyers packed the entrance hall of Istanbul's main Palace of Justice, chanting slogans to protest at the detention of their colleagues a day earlier in a demonstration supporting the Gezi Park protests.

Istanbul Bar Association chairman Umit Kocasakal said: "The police are intervening in an illegal way against citizens exercising their constitutional and democratic rights to protest."

In the fighting talk that first endeared him to voters 10 years ago, Mr Erdogan said on Tuesday he would not kneel before the protesters and "this Tayyip Erdogan won't change".

The United States, which has held up Mr Erdogan's Turkey in the past as an example of Muslim democracy that could benefit other countries in the Middle East, expressed concern about events in Turkey and urged dialogue.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: "We expect Prime Minister Erdogan to de-escalate the situation, in the spirit of European values, and to seek a constructive exchange and peaceful dialogue."

Mr Erdogan has accused foreign forces, international media and market speculators of trying to undermine the economy of the only largely Muslim Nato state.

Turkish markets stabilised slightly yesterday, with the stock market gaining 1.8%, having been hit by a sharp sell-off sparked partly by the protests. Stocks had fallen by more than 20% since May 31.

Turkey's broadcasting authority announced it was fining four tele-vision channels over their coverage on the grounds of inciting violence.

A fierce crackdown on an initial Gezi Park protest triggered the wider unrest.