Politics

Gezi Park protests continue in Istanbul and many towns in Turkey

"Share this post on social media, spread the news"

As Istanbul started its seventh day of protests with tear gas, protests all around the country went on and clashes erupted between police and protestors.

It was reported that Taksim Square had remained calm for the second night following days of tension, but clashes between police and citizens protesting the demolition of the park at Taksim continued in Beşiktaş, Ankara, İzmir and other towns, in Turkey on June, 2 as well.

In Istanbul, many citizens and students on the way to their jobs and schools were affected by tear gas used by police against protesters while traffic police on Dolmabahçe Street wore masks to avoid the gas.

Simultaneously teams from the Metropolitan Municipality worked to remove the metal jungle which was deployed as barricades on roads during the protests and make the roads available for traffic again.

On the second day of clashes, Beşiktaş which is close to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Istanbul office at Dolmabahçe Palace, witnessed considerable violence as police came hard on protesters with massive tear gas again.

It was reported that protesters in this area had built barricades to stop TOMAs, police vehicles spraying pressurized water. Citizens driving and passing by were reported to show solidarity for protestors, as well as other citizens banging pots and pans to demonstrate against the government and police. The Police prevented a group of protesters from marching across the Bosphorus Bridge to Beşiktaş to support protestors in said area.

Similar protests were conducted in neighborhoods across Istanbul and many other towns as well.

In Ankara for instance, clashes continued toward midnight and many injuries were reported in several areas such as Kızılay and Güven Parkı. News circulated on Twitter police had fired gas bombs at a makeshift hospital that was treating wounded and detained many protestors.

On the other hand, tension went up in Izmir (western province of Turkey) and Adana, a southern town when police attacked protestors with harsh methods and detained many citizens.

Similar incidents were witnessed in towns such as Kocaeli and Eskişehir where protesting citizens and police clashed and tear gas was used again by the police.

The Turkish Doctors Association announced that around 1,000 people had been injured in Istanbul, while another 700 had been wounded in Ankara during the past three days of clashes between two groups (source: media).

When the incidents first started, the government calculated that “A FEW PILLAGERS” – as referred by the PM – would easily be beaten off and dispersed by the police on duty in the area. However, things did not turn out to be that way and the longer clashes continued the more support was received by the protestors, bringing together tens of thousands of “citizens” to resist the truly harsh intervention of the police.

Prime Minister made speeches on TV channels where he seemed not to agree that the whole thing could grow to become much more than a small group of environmentalists protesting removal of trees from the only park in the heart of the city and a movement all across the country could be in question.

At this point, several journalists and opinion leaders have commented that PM’s attitude of minimizing this country wide action all those people –with several different political preferences but not expressing their political identity all along concerned events – were trying to put on stage and that the fact he almost ignored the message they were trying to convey to the government – and the PM in particular, actually – triggered the movement to become much stronger.

It was then the PM gave an interview to a journalist on a prominent national TV channel on which occasion people could tell through his expression and comments he had had to soften his tone a little . However, not many people were convinced that the PM was eventually aware of the magnitude of the unrest the government had caused with a major section of the public who would no longer take an intervention in their life styles and wanted to have a say on issues concerning them, as well.

To recap, as expressed by some sources in the foreign press this was the first major defeat experienced by the almighty Prime Minister. Many hope and pray now he can take this reality with tolerance, maturity and even wisdom so that he can become the Prime Minister of all citizens from different sections, whether it be Islamist, secular, nationalist and so forth in which case he would have the opportunity of serving the country to the satisfaction of a majority of Turkish citizens.

03.06.2013
SOURCE: Media & BTT

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HEALTH MUSEUM VIDEO PIC 2