sphericalfox Posted 2 June 2013 Posted 2 June 2013 Forget Syria, Egypt, Libia, and any other Arab revolution or spring. It can't be understated how the badly the situation in Turkey will affect Europe in the future. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22744728 Turkish police have arrested more than 900 people during two days of protests, the most sustained anti-government outburst for years. Interior Minister Muammer Guler said some of those arrested had since been released, others would be put on trial. He said 26 policemen and 53 civilians had been hurt, one seriously. Violence flared after police cracked down on a protest over a park in Istanbul. The protest sites were largely calm early on Sunday. The BBC's James Reynolds in Istanbul says a lot of people are fed up with the government, which they believe wants to take away some of their personal freedoms. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has offered to talk to the protesters, but our correspondent says there is no clear leader of the demonstrators. 'Some mistakes' In the early hours of Sunday there were isolated clashes around the streets of Istanbul. Continue reading the main story Our correspondent says that steady rainfall has dampened protests, and many of the demonstrators have gone home to get some rest. However, he says this has been a largely afternoon and evening protest, and that clashes may resume later in the day. Thousands of people had packed into Istanbul's Taksim Square on Saturday as the police pulled back. The initial protest had been a local dispute over plans to build on Gezi Park, near Taksim Square. But police attempted to move the demonstrators using tear gas, sparking an angry reaction that snowballed into nationwide protests. Mr Guler said more than 90 demonstrations had taken place in 48 cities. He said one of the injured civilians was being treated in an intensive care unit at an Istanbul hospital, but gave no details of how the injury was sustained. Video footage from Ankara appeared to show one protester being run down by a police vehicle. Amnesty International claimed two people had been killed and more than 1,000 injured, though there was no confirmation of those figures. Amnesty's Europe director John Dalhuisen said: "The excessively heavy-handed response to the entirely peaceful protests in Taksim has been truly disgraceful." The US also expressed concern over Turkey's handling of the protests. Mr Erdogan admitted 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. The prime minister has been in power since 2002, and is expected to run for the presidency in 2014. Some in Turkey have complained that his government is becoming increasingly authoritarian. His ruling AK Party has its roots in political Islam, but he says he is committed to Turkey's state secularism.
Deucalion Posted 2 June 2013 Posted 2 June 2013 I've got to know a couple of people in Turkey. One is a Kurd from the east of the country. The other is from Marmaris. Even though they have different reasons for being anti-government, both are. Both said independently (they do not know each other) that they would be in a lot of trouble for even talking to us about the darker side of Turkey. One theme with each was the limit of personal freedom and injustice of government sanctions for wrong-doing. This goes as far as restrictions on the children of fathers who had committed a minor crime. One the one hand, I want them to get a little more freedom and not to be living in fear of their government, on the other hand I do not want to see Turkey go the way of so many other places in the region recently. Let's hope they can achieve change peacefully.
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