Category Archives: News

Bianet: Lawyers protest police violence

490-310

Thousands of lawyers from bar associations in İstanbul, Ankara, Batman, Diyarbakır, Adana, Eskişehir, Bursa, Konya, Antep, Denizli, Aydın and İzmir have protested yesterday’s detention and beating of 44 lawyers in Istanbul Courthouse. Armored police officers intervened yesterday a group lawyers who were making a press statement on the steps of Istanbul Courthouse to protest the police violence in Taksim Square. Police [...] → Read the full article…

Guardian: Erdoğan’s reaction to Turkey protests reveals ominous Putin parallels

“Erdoğan’s polarising tactics might have come straight from the Putin playbook. Instead of talking to the demonstrators – a diverse and previously non-political bunch – he has blamed the protests on a murky foreign conspiracy. Many critical journalists are already in jail and on Tuesday Erdoğan denounced the international media. His ruling Islamist-rooted Justice and Development party (AKP) has made [...] → Read the full article…

A tear gas bomb thrown and smashed everything!

fft64_mf1497400

Tear gas came from all around. People panicked and dispersed. Since the bus I was standing on was a barricade at the same time, dispersing people started to run over each other in this narrow passage. There were injured people lying on this passage. The most severe police intervention that lasted in Taksim all day long occured at around 20.15 [...] → Read the full article…

Hürriyet Daily News: Anonymous hacks TV watchdog for fining live streaming of Gezi protests

n_48718_4

The global hacking collective Anonymous has hacked the website of the Turkish TV watchdog, after it fined today the broadcasters that showed live streaming of the Gezi Park protests. Anonymous announced the operation targeting the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), dubbed “Tango Down RTÜK,” via the Twitter account of the collective’s Turkish members. “You have fined the media organizations [...] → Read the full article…

Firat News: Eighteen journalists wounded, four others detained in Taksim

In a statement on yesterday’s incidents at Taksim Square, Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) said eighteen journalists were wounded and four others beaten and detained by police while covering news during the daylong protests at Taksim Square on Tuesday. TGC called on the government, the opposition and the media to active duty to ensure the safety of journalists and underlined that [...] → Read the full article…

Firat News: European lawyers protest against excessive state violence

The European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH) issued a press release protesting against excessive state violence, mass arrests and suppression of democratic rights people suffer during Gezi Park protests. ELHD said that “Yesterday, Tuesday 11 June 2013, shortly after noon, at least 47 lawyers (as far as we have been informed), were arrested and subjected to [...] → Read the full article…

Hürriyet Daily News:Turkish politicians slam foreign media coverage of the Gezi Park protests

n_48712_4

Turkish politicians, including President Abdullah Gül, reacted harshly to foreign media coverage of the ongoing Gezi protests, with state-run Anatolia news agency attempting to create a Twitter campaign over the ongoing London protests under the hashtag, “occupylondon.” Anatolia news agency gave a detailed report of the events that have been occurring in London, highlighting the number of detainments, while posting [...] → Read the full article…

The Guardian: Turkish poterstors and police battle for control of Taksim Square

“Teargas and water cannon deployed hours after prime minister demands an end to 10 days of demonstrations. Turkish riot police using teargas and water cannon battled protesters for control of Taksim Square in Istanbul on Tuesday night, hours after the prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, demanded an immediate end to 10 days of demonstrations. Istanbul’s governor, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, declared on [...] → Read the full article…

National Geographic: The Surprising History and Science of Tear Gas

man-throwing-tear-gas_68351_600x450

Technically a chemical weapon, tear gas is seeing heavy use in Turkish protests. On Wednesday, hundreds of Turkish riot police forced thousands of protestors out of Taksim Square in Istanbul, by showering them with tear gas and blasting them with water cannons. The square has been ground zero for protests that started on May 31 with the goal to stop [...] → Read the full article…

BBC News: Turkish press split between Erdogan and protesters

There’s a clear divide in the Turkish press between those who oppose the anti-government protests centred on Taksim Square in Istanbul and those who see the demands of the demonstrators as justified. Commentators who side with the ruling AKP party continue to see the unrest as a plot to unseat the government, while the others blame Prime Minister Recep Tayyip [...] → Read the full article…