As academics concerned with the recent developments in Turkey, we stand in solidarity with the people peacefully protesting to protect Gezi Park in Taksim, and we condemn the excessive police brutality that was inflicted on them. What started on Monday, May 27, as a movement to peacefully protest the demolition of a public park and its replacement with a shopping [...] → Read the full article…
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…
Riot police entered Gezi Park in Taksim Square at around 2 p.m. today, despite the Istanbul governor’s earlier remarks saying there would be no such operation. Live footage showed protesters chanting against the police officers, demanding that they leave the park. The police fired dozens of tear gas capsules before marching toward the park, which has been at the center [...] → Read the full article…
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s prime minister will meet with a group of protesters occupying Istanbul’s central Taksim Square this week, the deputy prime minister said Monday, as the government sought a way out of the impasse that has led to hundreds of protests in dozens of cities. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said, however, the government would no longer [...] → Read the full article…
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s prime minister convened his party leadership on Saturday to discuss anti-government protests that have entered their ninth day, as an opposition party leader urged the government to call early elections and renew its mandate. With thousands of people still occupying Istanbul’s central Taksim Square, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, met with top officials from his Justice and Development [...] → Read the full article…
Tens of thousands filled Taksim Square June 8 a week after the police’s withdrawal from Gezi Park to hold one of the biggest demonstrations since the beginning of the protests. The ultras of two irreconcilable football clubs of Istanbul – Beşiktaşand Fenerbahçe – had called on supporters to join the demonstration and stood in the forefront of the massive protest. Fans of Galatasaray and other [...] → Read the full article…
Protesters at Gezi Park who sparked nationwide demonstrations against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government continued to occupy the park on Friday, with the pious among them performing Friday prayers. Protesters at Gezi Park who sparked nationwide demonstrations against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government continued to occupy the park on Friday, with the pious among them performing Friday prayers.There [...] → Read the full article…
I was walking around Gezi Park when I bumped into this woman. She was sitting quietly. It was not difficult to guess what had happened to her but I wanted to ask her the story. She said that the police had targeted her face. Her teeth are broken and she has some fractures on her jaw. Yet, she is calm [...] → Read the full article…
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan returned to Turkey early today with a message of defiance for demonstrators gathered in the country’s two biggest cities, saying the government won’t turn a blind eye to “vandalism and illegality.” Thousands of supporters welcomed Erdogan at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport after 2 a.m. as he returned from a four-day trip to North Africa, the first [...] → Read the full article…
Turkish trade unionists banging drums and trailing banners marched into an Istanbul square on Wednesday, joining unprecedented protests against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan over what they see as his authoritarian rule. Members of more than a dozen unions chanting “Tayyip resign” marched down a major avenue towards Taksim Square. There were similar protests against Erdogan, prime minister for over 10 [...] → Read the full article…