Tag Archives: İstanbul @en

The Guardian: Erdoğan’s reaction to Turkey protests reveals ominous Putin parallels – Luke Harding

Leader is used to having things his own way but, civil society movement can no longer be suppressed, says Luke Harding The assault was as brutal as it was predictable. On Friday and Saturday Erdoğan had hosted a European Union meeting in Istanbul. Rumour had it that Turkey‘s prime minister would send in riot police to clear the demonstrators from Taksim Square [...] → Read the full article…

BBC News: Turkey’s Erdogan to meet protesters

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to meet the organisers of ongoing protests against his government on Wednesday, says his deputy. Bulent Arinc said Mr Erdogan would “listen to their thoughts”, but added that illegal protests would not be allowed. The prime minister has taken a tough line with the protesters. The anti-government unrest was sparked by a police [...] → Read the full article…

Reuters: Turkey rules out early polls, thousands defy call to end protest- Nick Tattersall and Ece Toksabay

(Reuters) – Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party on Saturday ruled out early elections as thousands of anti-government demonstrators defied his call for an immediate end to protests. Huseyin Celik, deputy chairman of the Justice and Development (AK) Party founded by Erdogan just over a decade ago, said local and presidential elections would be held next year as planned, [...] → Read the full article…

The Economist: The new young Turks

Protests against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his ham-fisted response, have shaken his rule and his country IT BEGAN with a grove of sycamores. For months environmentalists had been protesting against a government-backed plan to chop the trees down to make room for a shopping and residential complex in Istanbul’s Taksim Square. They organised a peaceful sit-in with tents, singing and [...] → Read the full article…

CNN: Turkish authorities arrest social media users; calls for Erdogan to resign continue- Michael Pearson and Gul Tuysuz

  Istanbul (CNN) – Thousands of people of all ages gathered Wednesday evening in Ugur Mumcu square in Antakya, a picturesque town in the Hatay province of Turkey. They chanted “Tayyip istifa!” or “Tayyip resign,” demanding that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan leave office. On nearly every street, CNN journalists heard pots and pans banging and saw security forces. The authorities, [...] → Read the full article…

Hürriyet Daily News: Tensions decrease despite some clashes in Gezi Park protests

Tension seemed to diminish on June 4, as the protests over the demolition of Taksim Gezi Park entered their second week, after spreading to nearly every province in Turkey. The heart of the protests in Istanbul’s Gezi Park continued in a more festive mood, a stark contrast to last week’s brutal police raids on the area. The protesters who took [...] → Read the full article…

Time: Live from ‘Occupied’ Gezi Park: In Istanbul, a new Turkish protest movement is born- Pelin Turgut

Last Friday, Ali Riza Gurs, manager of a local food business, saw the number of sit-in demonstrators at an Istanbul park swell, and spotted a problem: They were hungry and thirsty and would not leave Gezi Park, which is located in the heart of Istanbul and one of the city’s few remaining green spaces, because of bulldozers waiting to raze [...] → Read the full article…

Aljazeera: Turkey suffers worst night of rioting

Protesters use mechanical digger to break through police lines as riot squads battle back with volleys of tear gas. Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Turkey’s four biggest cities and clashed with riot police firing tear gas for a third day in the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years. Tens of thousands of people have taken [...] → Read the full article…

The New York Times: Turkish Official Apologizes for Force Used at Start of Riots- Sebnem Arsu

Turkey’s deputy prime minister apologized on Tuesday for the “excessive violence” used by the police last week against demonstrators opposing the razing of an Istanbul park, the start of what later became nationwide protests against the pro-Islamic government. The deputy, Bulent Arinc, speaking at a news conference broadcast live from Ankara, appeared to be trying to ease mounting criticism after [...] → Read the full article…

THE WEEK: Dispatch from Istanbul: Occupy Gezi Park digs in – Ben Pomeroy

ISTANBUL, TURKEY — The occupation of Taksim Square and Gezi Park have hit the one-week mark, and the anti-government movement has fully taken hold in other big cities around the the country, including the capital, Ankara, and the southern city of Antakya, where heavy violence broke out last night between police and protesters. Nobody knows where the movement goes from [...] → Read the full article…