Unrest in Turkey

[temujin]

Unrest in Istanbul. Spreading to Ankara and Izmir

BBC News - Turkey police clash with Istanbul Gezi Park protesters

Turkey police clash with Istanbul Gezi Park protesters

Turkish police have used tear gas and water cannon against protesters occupying a park in central Istanbul.

Scores of people have suffered injuries, several of them when a wall collapsed during a police chase.

Demonstrators had been camping since Monday in Gezi Park, angry at plans to develop it as part of a revamp of Taksim Square, in which it is situated.

Many protesters also expressed discontent with the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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This is the beginning of a summer of discontent”

Koray Caliskan Protester

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

Last week, Turkey's parliament approved legislation restricting the sale and consumption of alcoholic drinks.

The regulations would prohibit retail sales between 22:00 and 06:00, ban all alcohol advertising and promotion, and stop new shops and bars from opening within 100m (330ft) of schools and mosques.

Mr Erdogan said he wanted to stop young Turks from "wandering about in a state of inebriation" and was not trying to impose Islamic values.

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

Start of the 'Turkish spring' perhaps?

This Erdogan guy is the biggest enemy of the Turkish state..this is what he really thinks about democracy..

One does not need statistics or surveys to know that the AKP is bad for freedom and women's rights. Its origins are deeply Islamist, starting with Prime Minister and AKP member Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In 1994, Erdogan was quoted as saying, "Thank God almighty, I am a servant of Sharia." Years ago, he was reported to have argued that women shouldn't hold elected office, and he used to refrain from shaking hands with women because he considered it a sin.

As mayor of a major Turkish city, he described himself as "the imam of Istanbul" and once compared democracy to a tram: "You ride it until you arrive at your destination, then you step off."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-serdar28mar28,0,4427816.story

Edit: Live coverage on Al Jazeera for those interested. Local opposition to redevelopment of Taksim Square appears to have been the immediate trigger but the protests have since swelled to include those who are generally opposed to the authoritarian ways of Erdogan (or so the story on Al Jazeera goes)

 

[huskie]

I am also curious whether this is an isolated demonstration, or some organized movement going on.

 

[Tshering22]

Unrest in Istanbul. Spreading to Ankara and Izmir

BBC News - Turkey police clash with Istanbul Gezi Park protesters





Start of the 'Turkish spring' perhaps?

This Erdogan guy is the biggest enemy of the Turkish state..this is what he really thinks about democracy..



Edit: Live coverage on Al Jazeera for those interested. Local opposition to redevelopment of Taksim Square appears to have been the immediate trigger but the protests have since swelled to include those who are generally opposed to the authoritarian ways of Erdogan (or so the story on Al Jazeera goes)

TBH I quite agree with the tram dialogue.

But yeah this guy will push Turkey back in terms of openness.

 

[bala]

BBC News - Turkey protesters demand dismissal of police chiefs

Funny how the "protesters" (Zionists) escalate it and make demands. It is probably going to escalate and be another Syria case by the looks of it.

Sooner Israel wiped off the map, the better.

 

[I-LEK]

too much dictatorship and Islamism in Turkey!