Police in the Turkish city of Istanbul have pulled out of a square which has become the focus of the largest anti-government protest in years.
Thousands of people are in Taksim Square after days of unrest sparked by plans to redevelop nearby Gezi Park.
In recent days police have fired tear gas and water cannon several times to break up the demonstrations.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan said police may have used excessive force but that the park development will go ahead.
An administrative court had ordered a temporary halt to the demolition work on Friday, but in a defiant speech to the exporters' union on Saturday, Mr Erdogan said an Ottoman era military barracks on the Gezi Park site would be rebuilt on the site as planned.
Referring to protesters fears that the site was destined to be a shopping mall, he said one "might be built on the ground floor or a city museum" but that this had not yet been decided.
He called for an end to the protests, saying Taksim Square "cannot be an area where extremists are running wild".
Police 'mistakes'
The protesters say the park is one of the few green spaces left in Istanbul, and that the government is ignoring their appeals for it be saved.
Their protests initially began as a sit-in in the park, but erupted in clashes on Friday as police fired tear gas to try to clear them out.
Correspondents say that what was initially a local issue has spiralled into widespread anti-government unrest and anger over the perceived "Islamisation" of Turkey.
One woman told Agence France-Presse: "They want to turn this country into an Islamist state, they want to impose their vision all the while pretending to respect democracy."
Another, Oral Goktas, said the protest had brought together people from many different backgrounds objecting to the prime minister's leadership.
"This has become a protest against the government, against Erdogan taking decisions like a king," she told Reuters news agency.
The perception that police have been heavy-handed by firing tear gas and water cannon - a view adopted by many of the country's mainstream media - also fuelled the unrest. Dozens of people have been injured in the clashes.
Turkey's Hurriyet newspaper quoted police as saying 138 people were in custody.
Mr Erdogan said there had been "some mistakes, extremism in police response", while the authorities have insisted that any allegations of abuse of power by the police will be investigated.
In an apparent bid to reduce tensions, police and riot vehicles were withdrawn from the square on Saturday afternoon, and barricades removed, allowing thousands of people to enter the square.
The scene in the central square appeared to be peaceful, with protesters chanting slogans, dancing and waving banners, some calling for the government to resign.
However clashes continued in the Besiktas district of the city.
The BBC's Ben Thompson in the city said police were using tear gas and water cannon near the Shangri-la hotel to hold back protesters, who had in turn built a barricade across the main street.
Some people were digging up cobble stones to throw at police lines, our correspondent said.
There were reports of further clashes in front of the prime minister's office.
Foreign concern
Mr Erdogan has been in power since 2002 and some in Turkey have complained that his government is becoming increasingly authoritarian.
His ruling AK Party has its roots in political Islam, but he says he is committed to Turkey's state secularism.
The US has expressed concern over Turkey's handling of the protests and Amnesty International condemned the police's tactics, saying: "The use of violence by police on this scale appears designed to deny the right to peaceful protest altogether and to discourage others from taking part>"
In his speech, Mr Erdogan criticised the "preaching" of foreign governments, saying they "should first look at their own countries".
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