People Protest In Turkey
By Countercurrents
02 June, 2014
Countercurrents.org
Police used tear gas and water cannons on May 31 against hundreds of demonstrators in Istanbul , Ankara , Adana , Antalya , Mugla and other cities across Turkey . Defying heavy police presence the people were marking the anniversary of last year's nationwide Gezi Park protests.
Scores of people have been detained and many have been injured in Istanbul and Ankara . Rallies spread throughout Turkey . 140journos, a citizen journalism initiative on social media, reported from Mugla that a rally was held in the western Turkish city, too. "Gezi tents" were put in the southern Turkish city of Antalya .
Reports by news agencies and newspapers including AP, AFP, Reuters, Dogan News Agency and Hurriyet Daily News said:
Turkey was on alert on the first anniversary of the massive Gezi protests May 31. Calls were made for street action in the flashpoint area of Istanbul 's Taksim Square , which was the heart of last year's demonstrations.
Turkey Protest: Unarmed woman detained in a way that was condemned as a disproportional use of force. Pic: Hurriyet Daily News
Turkey Protest: Police brutality on the young. Pic: Hurriyet Daily News
Turkish officials had signaled that no demonstration would be allowed in Taksim and even in other parts of Istanbul , as the police ordered a sweeping deployment to crush any attempt of protest. Tensions ran high as some 25,000 police officers, 50 water cannon trucks (TOMAs), a large number of armored vehicles, and helicopters were dispatched to prevent any gathering at Taksim Square and its environs.
The Istanbul police canceled all holidays and increased the shifts of officers to 12 hours until a second order. Additional policemen from 11 other provinces were deployed to the city as part of measures against possible protests.
“You will not be able to come to those places like you did last year. Because the police have taken absolute orders, they will do all,” Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during the opening ceremony of a local municipal building in Istanbul hours before the planned gatherings.
Despite the government's warnings, demonstrators gathered in Istanbul and other cities after a calm morning. The police started to use tear gas and water cannons at 7 p.m. in Istanbul and Ankara , as protests were held in several cities. Scores of civilians and many policemen were injured.
Clashes continued in a few locations in Istanbul and Ankara .
Several people were arrested in the Besiktas neighborhood of Istanbul .
Human Rights Association (IHD) announced that 76 people were detained and 11 were injured during today's demonstrations.
Three policemen were injured due to fireworks aimed at them.
Several residents banged their pots and pans on their windows to protest the police particularly in Istanbul neighborhoods of Besiktas and Kadiköy since 9 p.m., following the call of Taksim Solidarity.
Police prevented a group who attempted to cross the Bosphorus Bridge on foot from Istanbul 's Asian side to Taksim in the European side. Cihangir and Besiktas are among European neighborhoods where police intervention continued. Policemen carried batons in their black backpacks.
Even journalists with official press cards issued by Turkey 's Prime Ministry were not allowed to enter Istiklal Avenue, which looked desolate except the police presence.
A man played flute in the middle of a busy road in Tarlabasi neighborhood of Istanbul to protest authorities (photo below) while police pursued a group of demonstrators. Several people applauded the unnamed man who walked away after playing his song.
Almost no civilians were left on the avenue.
Taksim Solidarity said on its Twitter account that it would not make a statement "until the police violence ends."
Two children were reportedly detained for allegedly shooting stones at police officers with their slings.
Ilhan Cihaner, a member of parliament from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), was in the crowd that resisted a TOMA on Istiklal Avenue. (Photo below)
Police used plastic bullets against demonstrators in Istanbul 's affluent Osmanbey neighborhood near Taksim.
Police forcefully intervened in the southern city of Adana .
HDP deputy Levent Tüzel told Hürriyet Daily News correspondent Stefan Martens that the police did not let them to read a statement in Istiklal Avenue. "We insisted to do it at Taksim Square , but we've been told that the governor doesn't permit it," Tüzel added.
CHP deputy Mahmut Tanal said Istanbul governor didn't return his phone calls. "Now I'm going try to read a statement to the press at Taksim Square ," he added at an impromptu meeting with journalists.
Members of Taksim Solidarity tried to enter Istiklal Avenue, but police chiefs refused to allow them. (Photo below)
"Gezi tents" in Antalya
Hundreds of people shouted: “Thief, Murderer”.
Sirri Süreyya Önder, a member of Parliament from HDP, was one of the few persons who were able to enter the place of the protest. (Photo Below) Önder was the first prominent politician who participated in the Gezi Park protests last year.
Funicular lines and rope railways serving the Taksim area were also stopped by authorities as a precaution to prevent gatherings.
A small group of demonstrators initiated a "book reading action" on the steps of Gezi Park near Taksim Square . (Photo below)
The city's ferry company announced that all boats running between the Anatolian and Asian sides of the city were cancelled upon the governor office's decision.
A CHP report describes the Gezi Park protests as "a historic struggle for democracy".
Scores of plainclothes policemen patrolled the roads leading to Taksim Square , particularly Istiklal Avenue, since early in the morning. Their backpacks carried baton and other mob control materials. (Photo above)
The Taksim Solidarity Platform, an umbrella association which initiated last year's protests against the cutting down of trees at Gezi Park, called for gatherings on May 31 to remember victims who died following brutal police crackdowns across Turkey.
The group also called for commemorations of Elif Çermik, a 64-year-old woman who became the latest victim of police violence on May 30 as she died after spending 159 days in coma due to a heart attack triggered by tear gas.
The Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK) also called on its members to participate in the demonstrations.
Earlier this month, a man in Mersin, Mehmet Istif, also died of cancer widely believed to have been triggered by tear gas shot directly into his mouth during Gezi protests there.
Two more people, Ugur Kurt and Ayhan Yilmaz, died during clashes between police and a group of demonstrators in Istanbul 's Okmeydani neighborhood last week. Kurt's killing by a police bullet as he was attending a funeral sparked yet new outrage on the eve of the Gezi anniversary.
A report this week by the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights said that more than 5,600 demonstrators were being prosecuted for involvement in the protests while no one responsible for the violence against protesters had been sentenced.
The Turkish authorities "are actively engaging in a witch hunt against those who participated in the protests or spoke out," said the federation's president Karim Lahidji.
CNN journalist kneed
Police intervened in the live shooting by CNN International, questioning the broadcaster's correspondent.
“Turkish police detained me and my crew in the middle of a live report in Taksim Square ," reporter Ivan Watson on his Twitter account, also sharing photos of the moment.
“One officer kneed me in the butt,” he wrote.
Watson was released soon.
Later, officer apologized for another officer who kneed the journalist.
Police crack down on workers
A police officer pinching the nose of a worker sparked huge outrage, triggering a social media campaign with the hashtag 'Yatagan is not alone' (#YataganYalnizDegildir).
Police attacked workers with tear gas and water cannon in an effort to disperse employees at the Yatagan thermal plant who chained themselves to the front of the Energy Ministry in Ankara on May 30 to demonstrate against the privatization of their workplace. Several people were also reportedly detained.
Workers at the Yatagan, Yeniköy and Kemerköy thermal plants in the southwestern province of Mugla staged resistance in front of Turkey 's privatization administration building.
Workers of the plants have repeatedly been attacked by police during the privatization tender process.
Comments are moderated