An enormous outpouring of grief and antigovernment rage during the funeral procession for a teenage boy felled by a police tear-gas canister turned into another mass confrontation with the Turkish authorities on Wednesday as mourners clashed with antiriot squads in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. At least one person was killed. The new unrest came a day after protesters battled with [...] → Read the full article…
Protesters clashed with police in Turkey’s two biggest cities on Tuesday after the death of a 15-year-old boy who was hit in the head by a tear-gas canister during anti-government demonstrations last summer. Police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds in Istanbul and Ankara, the latest pre-election headache for Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, already battling a graft [...] → Read the full article…
On Thursday, Mr. Erdogan, a strong advocate for military intervention in the Syrian war, reacted angrily to the United States’ decision to delay a military strike there — a decision analysts said had left Mr. Erdogan more politically vulnerable at home. In Istanbul on Thursday, police officers used tear gas to disperse protesters. Demonstrations have broken out recently across the [...] → Read the full article…
The protests that erupted in Istanbul’s Gezi Park in late May and then spread across the country marked a watershed in Turkish politics. The protests aimed to stop the cutting of trees at Gezi Park, but quickly grew into mass demonstrations against the government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and most particularly against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. [...] → Read the full article…
In Istanbul, known as the city of seven hills, dozens of public stairways crisscross centuries-old neighborhoods, giving pedestrians a way to avoid heavy car traffic on the streets. Those walkways generally attract little notice, but that changed last week, when a retired forestry engineer decided to paint the Findikli stairs in the central district of Beyoglu in all the colors of [...] → Read the full article…
“Dakar TOMA”, “TOMAZILLA”, “At-At TOMA”, “TOMAdurma”, “Çapulsavar”, “TOMAĞĞĞ”… What’s your favorite TOMA? TOMA – acronym for Intervention Vehicle to Public Events in Turkish – has inspired Gezi Park activists to launch a mock campaign where people are to design their own TOMAs. Initiated under slogans like “Don’t expect everything from the government” and “We won’t learn how to design TOMAs [...] → Read the full article…
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İstanbul – BIA News Desk Pianist Fazıl Say, signer of a letter in The Times by 30 intellectuals regarding Gezi Resistance, made a statement backing his decision to sign the letter – a declaration that AKP Vice Chairperson Hüseyin Çelik claimed to be “arrogant”. “This letter was meant to give a message. I was approached to sign the letter. I [...] → Read the full article…
Turkey’s prime minister has threatened legal action against a UK newspaper for publishing an open letter criticising his handling of recent protests. Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the Times of “renting out its pages for money”. Hollywood celebrities and academics were among those who signed the letter this week accusing Turkey’s government of “dictatorial rule”. A row over a park in [...] → Read the full article…
An Ankara court has stopped the prosecution process regarding the police officer who shot and killed Ethem Sarısülük during a Gezi Park protest because it does not have permission to try the officer. The Sixth Ankara Criminal Court decided to send the investigation files regarding Sarısülük’s alleged shooter, identified as A.Ş., to the prosecutor’s office for the completion of “the [...] → Read the full article…
ISTANBUL – Turkey should readjust its legal framework regarding the use of tear gas grenades to prevent further risk of death and injury, according to a European Court of Human Rights decision. The decision came yesterday as a result of the chamber’s session on the case of Abdullah Yaşa, who had applied to the European court over his injuries caused [...] → Read the full article…