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Riots in Turkey

Ryokan

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Ryokan
Joined
Nov 17, 2004
Messages
10,862
Location
Norway
There's been some tensions in Turkey for quite a while now, with Prime Minister Erdogan and the ruling party, the Islamic AKP, becoming ever more unpopular with wide segments of Turks.

Last night there was a demonstration against one of the last parks in downtown Istanbul being turned into a shopping mall, but since police turned up and tried removing the demonstrators with force and tear gas, the whole situation has escalated to become nation wide.

Turkey is entering a second day of violent protests, with fresh clashes between police and demonstrators in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara.

The protest 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 as hundreds of protesters tried to cross a Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul.

In Ankara, protesters tried to march on the parliament.
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One Istanbul resident, who gave her name as Lily, told the BBC's World Service: "There are 40,000 people crossing the bridge between Asia and Europe today. All the public transport is on lockdown."

She said that police had dropped tear-gas canisters from helicopters overnight.

"About half past one the entire city started to reverberate. People were banging on pots, pans, blowing whistles," she said.

The BBC's Louise Greenwood in Istanbul says police from as far afield as Antalya are being drafted in to help quell the violence.

She says the central Taksim district and surrounding areas remain cordoned off and bridges are closed to traffic.

Istanbul's governor said a dozen people were admitted to hospital and more than 60 people detained after Friday's clashes.
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Correspondents say the issue has helped highlight unhappiness among young people towards the government and ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party over what they see as creeping Islamisation.

Last week, Turkey's parliament approved legislation restricting the sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks between 22:00 and 06:00.

The prime minister's AK Party has its roots in political Islam, but he says he is committed to Turkey's state secularism.

Mr Erdogan has been in power since 2002 and some in Turkey have complained that his government is becoming increasingly authoritarian.

Earlier this month, riot police clashed with tens of thousands of people attempting to hold a May Day march in Istanbul.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22739423

It'll be interesting to see how this situation develops, and whether the army, always on the side of secularism in Turkey, will intervene. They've threatened to topple Erdogan before, if he strays too far from secularism.
 
A blog with lots of pictures from the demonstrations here: http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com/

Warning: There are some bloody images.

Amnesty is demanding that the police brutality stops:

The Turkish authorities must order police to stop using excessive force against peaceful protesters in Istanbul and immediately investigate alleged abuses, said Amnesty International after more than a hundred people were injured during an ongoing peaceful demonstration in a city centre park.

On 30 and 31 May, police officers used water cannon and tear gas to disperse a peaceful protest against the destruction of Gezi Park in central Istanbul.

More than a hundred protesters are reported to have been injured during police interventions. Some suffered head injuries and at least two people had to receive emergency surgery.

Amnesty International activists who were observing the protest were also hit with truncheons and tear gassed.
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http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/turk...nvestigate-abuses-istanbul-protest-2013-05-31
 
I am in Ankara and in the centre of town right now. All fairly quiet except for a chopper or two. Might have to go for a walk and see what is going on.

Hmmm that photo in the picture is just up the road somewhere.
 
Sideroxylon said:
I am in Ankara and in the centre of town right now. All fairly quiet except for a chopper or two. Might have to go for a walk and see what is going on.

Hmmm that photo in the picture is just up the road somewhere.
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:boggled: :boggled: :boggled: Are you sure that's a good idea?
 
Sideroxylon said:
I am in Ankara and in the centre of town right now.
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From what I understand, this isn't being covered very well in Turkish media?

It's top story in Norwegian online newspapers at the moment. There's also lots of conflicting information all over the place.
 
The few images I've seen seem to indicate pretty liberal (though not in a political sense) use of tear gas, with dozens of empty canisters on the ground. Just hope it doesn't escalate into fatalities.
 
All pretty quiet in the centre of Ankara. There were a couple of choppers flying around to look for gathering groups I guess. Protests are very common place in the capital and have been for the 12 years that I have been here. Aside from a couple of armored riot vans there is relatively little police presence down town. When there is a decent sized protest there are usually many buses parked at particular points along the streets but there were not.

I saw a couple of protest groups, one large and one small. The small group are regulars protesting over the many arrests related to an alleged coup plot (ErgenekonWP). The larger group are off the side of the main square and have had a presence for about a week as far as I have seen. This moderate-sized group have Republican People's Party (main opposition) and Workers Party banners and are noisily but peacefully chanting slogans. A relatively small group of police stand by with a tear gas rifle or two.

Very mild stuff for a weekend in Ankara so far.
 
Sideroxylon said:
All pretty quiet in the centre of Ankara. There were a couple of choppers flying around to look for gathering groups I guess. Protests are very common place in the capital and have been for the 12 years that I have been here. Aside from a couple of armored riot vans there is relatively little police presence down town. When there is a decent sized protest there are usually many buses parked at particular points along the streets but there were not.

I saw a couple of protest groups, one large and one small. The small group are regulars protesting over the many arrests related to an alleged coup plot (ErgenekonWP). The larger group are off the side of the main square and have had a presence for about a week as far as I have seen. This moderate-sized group have Republican People's Party (main opposition) and Workers Party banners and are noisily but peacefully chanting slogans. A relatively small group of police stand by with a tear gas rifle or two.

Very mild stuff for a weekend in Ankara so far.
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Whatever you do, don't play in public the music you've been submitting in the game. It can only make things worse.
 
Sideroxylon said:
I saw a couple of protest groups, one large and one small. The small group are regulars protesting over the many arrests related to an alleged coup plot (ErgenekonWP). The larger group are off the side of the main square and have had a presence for about a week as far as I have seen. This moderate-sized group have Republican People's Party (main opposition) and Workers Party banners and are noisily but peacefully chanting slogans. A relatively small group of police stand by with a tear gas rifle or two.

Very mild stuff for a weekend in Ankara so far.
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so whats it actually about as far as we know? like what do they want?
 
El Greco said:
Whatever you do, don't play in public the music you've been submitting in the game. It can only make things worse.
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With all of the clamour going on outside tonight - whistles, horns, banging pots and pans - do you think they would notice?

kevsta said:
so whats it actually about as far as we know? like what do they want?
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The main thing they want is for Istanbul's Gezi Park to be left intact as one of the city's few green areas. Other than that some are taking it as a general rallying focus for political dissatisfaction with the government.

For those interested, here are a couple of local news sources in English.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com
http://www.todayszaman.com
 
Turkish Dutch people held a protest in Amsterdam tonight, supporting the Turkey protesters.
 
Turkish protests

I don't have anything to add that can't be found on the reputable news sites but I would like to pose a question. Fener Fan and Sideroxylon, or indeed anyone who spent significant time in Turkey, do you have any insights you would care to share with us?

I have to wonder how the military will take Erdogan's apparent Islamization of Turkish society given they are historically the backbone of secularism in Turkey. It is my understanding that the purge of a few years back only removed a handful of the senior most generals and the bulk of the officer corps and senior NCOs came up in the military's secularist tradition.

Could Erdogan be setting himself up for a coup?
 
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Thread here.

The question you pose is an interesting one. The military has made veiled threats, and not so veiled ones, ever since Erdogan and his party came to power. There was a feeble attempt at a coup some years ago, but it wasn't backed by the majority of the military. Most of the time, Erdogan skates a very fine line, and although he certainly annoys the most secular minded, he hasn't taken any really big steps across that line. As far as I know, the military hasn't made any statements regarding the riots and protests, but I'm quite sure they're following the situation closely.

The paradox of AKP is that while their ideology is based on political Islam, it's also the strongest pro-EU party in Turkey. A lot of Turks see themselves as Europeans and want to join the EU, which is why a lot of progressive and modern thinking people have voted for them. I guess they're regretting that a bit these days.. :)

The latest I saw in the news now is that Erdogan has admitted that the police have used excessive force and brutality, and has withdrawn the police from downtown Istanbul. The protesters are celebrating at Taksim Square, and have declared victory. Time will tell if that's premature.

There's conflicting numbers of wounded, arrested and even dead. Official numbers from the Turkish government is around a hundred wounded (including police) and around a thousand people arrested. I've seen two dead mentioned in some news channels, but nothing confirmed.
 
Hundreds of protesters have reoccupied a central square in Istanbul following two days of violent demonstrations that saw almost 1,000 people arrested.

The situation is generally calm and city workers are clearing up.

But there are reports police have fired tear gas again on hundreds of protesters in Kizilay Square in Ankara.
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Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan admitted on Saturday that "there have been some mistakes, extremism in police response", but also accused his opponents of using the anger over the Gezi Park issue to stoke up tensions.
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Interior Minister Muammer Guler said 90 demonstrations had taken place in 48 cities after the protests spiralled.

He said some of those arrested had since been released but others would be put on trial.

Mr Guler said one of the injured civilians was being treated in an intensive care unit at an Istanbul hospital.

Amnesty International claimed two people had been killed and more than 1,000 injured, though there was no confirmation of those figures.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22744728
 
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