I flew down to Istanbul this weekend to support my friends. Joined in the protests on the front lines - have some photos up: http://travel.ninjito.com/dump/2013-06-01-Istanbul-Protests/...
At one point an ambulance needed to go through - I ran in front clearing the way, up to where the digger was parked at the intersection.
Someone from the crowd jumped in to start it to make way for the ambulance, and spurred on by cheers, drove the thing forward, over the barricades, and directly into the water cannon trucks, sending the cops retreating.
After making a solid advance of about 500m or so, he was joined by 2 semi-trailers, before he was gassed out of the cabin. As he came down, I sprayed his eyes, and had a good 10 second pause, contemplating if it was worth driving the digger more. Eventually I decided that it wasn't my place (as a foreigner) to drive it, someone else jumped in and took off, and I hopped in the semi-trailer to help the driver who had been gassed.
Shot some video of the digger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86-r7CVQzF0 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZBsdYCOLuY
and from the truck cab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSA79KpOSZI
kweks: Posts start on 'new', and only rise to the front page if they get enough traction. Unfortunately, yours has been missed so far.