It all began with a grove of sycamores. For months a tight band of environmentalists had been protesting against a government-backed project to chop the trees down in order to make room for a mall and residential complex in Istanbul’s Taksim Square. Last week they organised a peaceful sit in, camping, singing and dancing by the threatened trees. On May [...] → Read the full article…
President Abdullah Gül has intervened to stop the police crackdown in Taksim, urging “sensitivity and maturity” to calm the five day long tensions down. Official sources told the Hürriyet Daily News that around 2:30 p.m. Gül called the Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, Interior Minister Muammer Güler and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Emphasizing that the situation was “very sensitive,” Gül urged [...] → Read the full article…
PM says the redevelopment of Gezi Park is being used as an excuse for the unrest and warns the main opposition Republican People’s Party against stoking tensions. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan made a defiant call for an end to the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years on Saturday, as thousands of protesters clashed with riot police in Istanbul and Ankara [...] → Read the full article…
In Bodrum, a province of Muğla, Turkey, normally a peaceful town and vacation destination, the police kicked a civilian’s face while arresting him for protesting. 1 June 2013 Source: liveleak.com
Thousands of demonstrators who were protesting against the planned construction of a shopping mall in the last remaining green spot in downtown have finally set foot back to Taksim Gezi Park after the police withdrawal. Scores of people are marching towards Taksim Square from different parts of Istanbul. Thousands of demonstrators who were protesting against the planned construction of a [...] → Read the full article…
(Reuters) – Protesters lit fires and scuffled with police in parts of Istanbul and Ankara early on Sunday, but the streets were generally quieter after two days of Turkey’s fiercest anti-government demonstrations for years. Hundreds of protesters set fires in the Tunali district of the capital Ankara, while riot police fired tear gas and pepper spray to hold back groups [...] → Read the full article…
Turkey has entered a second day of violent protests, with fresh clashes between police and demonstrators in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara. The unrest began as a sit-in over plans to redevelop Gezi Park in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, but escalated after police used tear gas. Tear gas was again fired on Saturday at protesters in Istanbul and Ankara. In a [...] → Read the full article…
Erdogan criticized the demonstrators and blamed the media. He said: “Take a look and notice the game being played here. There have been mistakes in the use of pepper gas, sure. However. the Topcu barracks will still be built.” Erdoğan, added that the entrance of the barracks could either be built as a mall or a city museum. Prime Minister [...] → Read the full article…
Urgent steps must be taken by the Turkish authorities to prevent further deaths and injuries and allow protesters access to their fundamental rights, as well as ensuring the security of all members of the public, Amnesty International said following reports of more than 1,000 injuries and at least two deaths of protesters in Istanbul. Amnesty International kept its office, which [...] → Read the full article…
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) emerged as a source of hope in 2001 amidst an atmosphere of chaos and instability in Turkey. The Turkish public was so fed up with long years of coalition governments, deteriorating economy and anti-democratic interventions in politics by non-civilian forces that within a short period of time, the AK Party garnered the [...] → Read the full article…