The Telegraph: Turkey protesters celebrate after police leave Istanbul square

Thousands of protesters celebrated early on Sunday after police withdrew from Istanbul’s Taksim Square, the focal point of nationwide protests against Turkey’s Islamist-rooted government. The government, while acknowledging some excesses by police in two days of clashes, called on the demonstrators to leave the streets after protests in 48 cities. Rights groups denounced police violence, with Amnesty International saying that [...] → Read the full article…

Hürriyet Daily News: Turkish PM Erdoğan retires mall project, vows mosque in Taksim

PM Erdoğan says the controversial military barracks to be built in Taksim will not be used as a shopping mall, while promising to build a a mosque in the iconic square Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has stepped back from building a shopping mall in the Artillery Barracks project to replace Taksim Gezi Park, while also announcing that a [...] → Read the full article…

Hürriyet Daily News: Protesters clean Taksim area after police withdrawal

After the police forces withdrew from Taksim Square on June 1, where a brutal crackdown targeting demonstrators protesting against the demolition of Taksim Gezi Park had taken place, peaceful demonstrators cleaned the Taksim Square voluntarily early this morning. Many people brought the rubbish bags and cleaned all the rubbish on the ground, including tear gas canisters, stones and glasses. Many [...] → Read the full article…

The Economist: Resentment against Erdogan explodes

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…

Hürriyet Daily News: President Gül calls PM, minister as police withdraw from Taksim

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…