[NEW UPDATE] Turkey Protests: Video Of Cops Deploying Tear Gas
On 1st June 2013 in Turkey, a peaceful protest over the demolition of a city park turns into a nationwide clash against the autocratic government and authoritarian Prime Minister Erdogan.
By Mei Mei Chu — 02 Jun 2013, 12:35 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
Police use tear gas and water cannons, PM says revolutionary symbols are 'rags'
Turkey's deputy prime minister said on Monday the armed forces could be called up if needed to help quell popular protests that have swept Turkish cities in
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“There are serious clashes in the small streets surrounding the square. They are running after each other tossing stones, bottles and smoke grenades there. It’s a real meat grinder in there,” reports RT’s Ashraf El Sabbagh.
Image via twimg.comHundreds of Turkish police clashed with protesters after taking over Taksim Square in Istanbul. The raid allowed removal of barricades and banners. PM Erdogan praised the troops for removing the ‘rags’ as he branded the revolutionary symbols.
Turkish riot police fired water cannon and teargas at hundreds of protesters in Istanbul's Taksim Square on Tuesday, Reuters witnesses said, entering the square for the first time
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Police removed protesters' banners from a building overlooking the square and the local governor said police had no intention of breaking up the protest in adjoining Gezi Park.
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"This movement won't end here. We've started something much bigger than this park ... After this, I don't think people will go back to being afraid of this government or any government," said student Seyyit Cikmen, 19, as the crowd chanted "Every place is Taksim, every place resistance."
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Malaysian Embassy in Turkey says Malaysians will be returned home if protests worsen
Malaysians in Turkey will be brought home if the clashes between pro- and anti-government protesters continue to escalate, the Malaysian embassy in the Islamic republic said yesterday.
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Erdogan addressed several rallies of gathered supporters in Turkey on Sunday. Pic: Reuters
Image via malaysiandigest.comAn embassy official said although the clashes had spilled over to more areas since May 31, there was no plan yet to bring home the Malaysians there.
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There are 93 Malaysians in Turkey, 17 of them students. Most of them are in Istanbul.
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Malaysians warned against travelling to Turkey
"In light of the current situation, the ministry would like to advise all Malaysians to avoid travelling to the affected areas or postpone any non-essential visits to Turkey for the time being, for their own safety and security," the statement said.
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Wisma Putra, in a statement Tuesday, said the ministry was closely monitoring the developments in Istanbul and Ankara that have resulted in the injuries of hundreds of people in the last several days.
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Turkey’s Erdogan rejects ‘dictator’ claim as anti-government protests pick up again
Protesters occupied the Ataturk Culture Center at Istanbul's Taksim Square on Sunday, a day after police withdrew from the square and adjacent park.
Image via wsj.netTurkey's Islamist-rooted government faced growing pressure today after angry demonstrators clashed for a third night with police in a nationwide wave of protests.
Police fired tear gas and water cannon Sunday at protesters who marched on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s offices in Istanbul and Ankara.
“Dictator, resign!... We will resist until we win,” yelled the crowds, in the latest of a string of protests that have by some accounts left hundreds injured.
globaltimes.cnMeanwhile, Turkey’s PM on Sunday rejected claims that he is a “dictator,” dismissing protesters as an extremist fringe, even as thousands returned to the landmark Istanbul square that has become the site of the fiercest anti-government outburst in years.
Many people wore red and white, the colors of the Turkish flag. They chanted slogans such as "Tayip, Resign!" in Turkish. Their banners read, in English and Turkish, "Enough!" and "Resistanbul".
chinadaily.com.cnUpdate: Calm on Turkish streets after days of Fierce protests
Shopkeepers and municipal workers began cleaning the streets of Istanbul and Ankara on Sunday after the fiercest anti-government demonstrations in years.
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The country starts to clean up the streets after violent anti-government demonstrations, but there are calls for more protests.
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Amnesty International said there had been two deaths, and Turkey's Western allies including Britain and the US called on the government to show restraint.
Amnesty said some protesters had been left blinded by the massive quantities of tear gas and pepper spray used by police while at least two people were hit in the head with gas canisters.
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Latest: Police withdraw from Istanbul's Taksim Square
Police withdrew Saturday from Istanbul's Taksim Square after protesters turned out in the tens of thousands, calling for the resignation of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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Thousands of protesters in Istanbul were celebrating victory early Sunday after police withdrew from the square at the centre of one of the largest demonstrations against Turkey’s Islamist-rooted government.
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Rights groups denounced police violence, with Amnesty International saying that there had been two deaths, while Turkey’s Western allies Britain and the United States called on the government to show restraint.
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The numbers: 90 protests nationwide, 939 people arrested, 1000 injured
Officials said more than 90 protests had taken place across Turkey.
A total of 939 people had been arrested, the Interior Ministry said, as demonstrations took place in towns and cities including Antalya, Izmir and Konya.
Interior Minister Muammer Guler said more than 900 people were detained during the protests but some of them were released after questioning. He did not say how many were still in custody. The protest had spread to 48 cities, he added.
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Interior Minister Muammer Guler said on Saturday that 939 people had been arrested in more than 90 separate demonstrations around the country. More than 1,000 people have been injured in Istanbul and several hundred more in Ankara, according to medics.
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Ahmet Gurbuz, one of the about 40 doctors staffing a field hospital, said 400 patients have been treated in the past two days, most for tear gas inhalation, and about 40 for injuries from flying tear gas canisters.
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Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Taksim Square "cannot be an area where extremists are running wild"
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Taksim Square "cannot be an area where extremists are running wild"
Image via mycatbirdseat.comMr Erdogan remained defiant on Saturday, vowing to push ahead with the redevelopment plan for Taksim Square and calling on protesters "to stop their demonstrations immediately".
In a televised speech, Erdogan said police may have used tear gas excessively while confronting protesters and said such accusations would be investigated. But he said the protesters didn't represent the majority and accused them of raising tensions.
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Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said police had made "mistakes" in the force they have used, but has called for an end to the Istanbul protests.
"Police were there yesterday, they'll be on duty today and also tomorrow because Taksim Square cannot be an area where extremists are running wild," he said.
He said the redevelopment of a park in Taksim was being used as an excuse for the unrest and warned the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) against stoking tensions.
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It escalated into a violent nationwide protest against the autocratic government
These are the largest anti-government protests in Turkey for years. Correspondents say that the protest has spiralled into widespread anti-government unrest and anger over the perceived "Islamisation" of Turkey.
Hundreds of protesters set fires in the Tunali district of the capital Ankara, while riot police fired tear gas and pepper spray to hold back groups of stone-throwing youths near Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office in Istanbul.
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Erdogan remains by far the country's most popular politician, but critics point to what they see as his authoritarianism and religiously conservative meddling in private lives in the secular republic. Some accuse him of behaving like a modern-day sultan.
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Thousands of young people, many outfitted with half face masks, marched down the Istiklal, the main pedestrian street, chanting “The government should resign,” and “Shoulder to shoulder against fascism.”
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Last week, the government quickly passed legislation curbing the sale and advertising of alcoholic drinks, in a surprise move that alarmed secularists. Many felt insulted when he defended the legislation by calling people who drink "alcoholics".
Concern that government policy is allowing Turkey to be dragged into the conflict in neighbouring Syria by the West has also sparked peaceful demonstrations.
aljazeera.comAsli Aydintasbas, a commentator for the daily Milliyet newspaper, wrote: "These people are not just hugging trees ... what they are objecting to more than anything is that the prime minister is the sole decision maker in every aspect of our lives."
The Turkish media were keeping quiet about the deadly protest (Click on the image for full view)
"The protesters have been directing their anger both at the PM and also at the media. They say the media has sold out and is not covering these events."
aljazeera.comIt started as a demonstration against the demolition of Gezi park to make way for a shopping mall
The Istanbul protest began late on Monday as a peaceful sit-in at Gezi Park across Taksim Square. The demonstrators had been preventing workers from razing some of the park's 600 trees, the last patch of green in the commercial area.
aljazeera.comResidents fear that the barracks will be turned into a shopping mall. The demonstration soon took a violent turn, however, with police shooting rounds of tear gas to disperse the protesters.
aljazeera.comOn Friday, clashes broke out as police fired tear gas to try to clear them out.
Denouncing protesters as “entirely ideological,” Erdogan vowed in a speech to go ahead with plans to build a replica of an Ottoman-era barracks on what is now parkland off of Taksim Square in the heart of Istanbul’s downtown.
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Peaceful protest over a city park turns into a nationwide clash against the authoritarian Prime Minister
In a scene reminiscent of the Arab Spring, thousands of people on Saturday flooded Istanbul’s main square after a crackdown on an anti-government protest turned city streets into a battlefield clouded by tear gas.
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An environmental demonstration in Istanbul on Friday quickly spiralled into a wider, violent nationwide protests against what critics state is Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian government.
"Demonstrations are taking place in Istanbul and in other cities across Turkey, including Ankara. Police are using tear gas and water cannons in response. We advise British nationals to avoid all demonstrations," the Foreign Office said.
Tens of thousands of protesters called for the resignation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and fought police firing tear gas in central Istanbul for the second day Saturday.
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