Tag Archives: tear gas

Hürriyet Daily News: Many injured as police enter Taksim Square to ‘clear banners’

Riot police have taken partial control of Taksim Square after entering the site around 7.30 a.m. and surrounded the Atatürk Statue following use of tear gas and pressurized water on the protesters. As of 11:30, a human chain had been formed to prevent the police from intervening, but was immediately dispersed by the officers. Crowds at the park do not come down [...] → Read the full article…

The Telegraph: Turkish opposition accuses Erdogan of dragging country ‘into the fire’

Turkey’s opposition leader accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of dragging the country “into the fire”, as anti-government protests that have seen three deaths entered their 11th day. “We are witnessing a prime minister who is trying to hold on to power by creating tensions,” Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party was quoted as saying by national [...] → 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…

The New York Times: Peaceful protest over Istanbul park turns violent as police crack down

Tolga Bozoglu/European Pressphoto Agency

ISTANBUL — Police officers attacked a group of peaceful demonstrators on Friday in Istanbul’s Taksim Square with water cannons and tear gas, sending scores of people, protesters and tourists alike, scurrying into shops and luxury hotels and turning the center of this city into a battle zone at the height of tourist season. The police action was the latest violent [...] → 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…

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…

Reuters : Thousands take to streets in Turkey, clash with police

(Reuters) – Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Turkey’s four biggest cities on Sunday and clashed with riot police firing tear gas on the third day of the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years. The din of car horns and residents banging pots and pans from balconies in support of the protests resonated across neighbourhoods in Istanbul [...] → Read the full article…

The Washington Post: The photo that encapsulates Turkey’s protests and the severe police crackdown – Max Fisher

Turkey’s protest movement has ebbed and flowed dramatically over the past week, as has the government’s sometimes heavy-handed response, but this photo from last Tuesday, the second day of large-scale demonstration, remains an iconic and affecting symbol of the ongoing movement. The photo was snapped by Reuters photographer Osman Orsal in Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi Park, where the movement began with [...] → Read the full article…

BBC News: Turkey protests: Unrest rages in Istanbul and Ankara

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…