Turkey Protesters Defy Erdogan's Warning
By Countercurrents.org
13 June 2013
Countercurrents.org
Lawyers' massive protest on June 12. DHA photo
Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan vowed to escalate violence after June 12-crackdown on Istanbul protesters that left hundreds injured. Erdogan had told the interior minister and police chief to end the protests in Gezi Park within 24 hours. Erdogan's chilling warning is : “These protests will be over in 24 hours”.
But thousands of protesters defied his warning and again gathered to Gezi Park on June 12-night, accompanied by a heavy presence of riot police. The protesters peacefully also gathered in Taksim Square on Wednesday evening. It was the 16th day of the protests, a night after violent clashes at the Taksim Square .
More than 20 opposition MPs went to the park to try to prevent any police intervention. Artists organized a sit-in in the evening at the park.
Police stood back along the edges of the square.
Some protesters formed a human chain to prevent any scuffle from breaking out at the square.
An early morning storm blew down tents and soaked bedding. Donations of food and supplies including tents, sleeping bags and toilet paper continued to arrive.
Meanwhile, there were renewed clashes between security forces and demonstrators in the capital Ankara . Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in the city centre
Referendum proposal rejected
Members of the Taksim Solidarity Platform that met the deputy prime minister last week said that they did not accept the government's proposal of a referendum.
“Nobody met with us. We rose up because we refused the police oppression that continued until this morning. [The ruling AKP's spokesperson Çelik] said those who stay in the park are marginal. No one will abandon the site tonight,” the group said in a statement.
"As police violence continues mercilessly... these meetings will in no way lead to a solution," said the statement.
"No meeting, while the police violence disregarding right to life so relentlessly continues in and around the Gezi Park , will produce results," it said. "We are waiting for you in Gezi Park . We are here and we are not leaving."
"We are still here and our demands haven't changed," group member Ongun Yucel said at the park.
Some leaders of civil society groups including Greenpeace had said they would not participate in discussions because of an "environment of violence" in the country.
Thousands of Turkish lawyers' protest in Istanbul , Ankara , Izmir
Thousands of Turkish lawyers in Istanbul , capital city Ankara , western province of Izmir and eastern province of Tunceli staged protest marches denouncing the detention of lawyers and repression of Taksim protesters by the Islamist government. It's an unusual escalation of the demonstrations.
More than 2,000 lawyers staged a massive protest on June 12 inside Istanbul 's Çaglayan Courthouse, where nearly 60 lawyers were detained in a police raid after protesting the government over the Gezi Park unrest.
The lawyers raised slogans: “Everywhere Taksim, everywhere resistance,” “Resign, prosecutor,” “Prosecutor, look here, count how many we are”.
"Oppression has been going on for months," said lawyer Ege Inal. "The government is exactly like the ones that they have been criticizing. That is why we are here."
Dozens of lawyers were detained for several hours by police at Çaglayan Courthouse on June 11 for joining the Taksim Gezi protests, which have been raging across the country for 17 days now. All the lawyers were subsequently released.
The chief prosecutor issued a statement on June 12 claiming the lawyers had disturbed the “public order,” and only few of them were wearing legal robes.
“Police terror is storming Turkey linked with the Turkish government's political provocations,” Istanbul Bar Association head Ümit Kocasakal said.
“Illegal use of gas canisters and plastic bullets targeting anyone around disregards our citizens' safety. We are not bugs to be killed by gassing, we are human,” Kocasakal said.
The Ankara Bar Association also staged a protest marching through the Sihhiye district of the capital.
“This is an attack on every lawyer in Turkey ,” the vice chair of the bar, Sema Aksoy, said.
Sema said the lawyers were handcuffed and pulled over the ground. She called the police action an affront to Turkey 's judicial system.
"Lawyers can't be dragged on the ground!" the demonstrating lawyers shouted in rhythm as they marched out of an Istanbul courthouse.
The Ankara Bar Association asked who could have safety and guarantees on property in a country where lawyers are taken from a courthouse by police.
“The detainment of the lawyers at the courthouse by force brings the question of what kind of a ‘democratic regime' we are living in,” said the bar in a statement sent to the Hürriyet Daily News.
Investigations
Lawyers in Turkey are launching an investigation into excessive police violence against protesters in Taksim Square .
jQ(document).ready(function(){ jQ.ajax({ url : 'http://resource.guim.co.uk/global/static/file/discussion/5/fill-comment-counts-swimlaned.js', dataType : 'script', type : 'get', crossDomain : true, cache: true }); });
Turkey 's Human Rights Foundation said Istanbul prosecutors had launched an investigation into allegations of excessive use of police force during the protests.
The foundation said 620 people, including a 1-year-old baby, were injured during the police crackdown early Wednesday. Police detained around 70 people during the incidents.
Piano notes replace tear gas
The thousands of demonstrators that gathered once again late on June 12 in Gezi Park had an opportunity to chill out thanks to the piano concert of the German musician Davide Martello.
The Italian-born pianist and composer, who visited the Taksim Square and the park, made a surprise to its “occupiers” bringing with him nothing less than his big piano and gave a mellow concert for the crowd.
Martello, who is an accustomed of such spontaneous performances, played sonatas among other classic tunes.
Media penalized
Private TV networks that live broadcasted the clashes between police and demonstrators such as Halk TV, Ulusal TV, CEM TV and EM TV were fined for “harming the physical, moral and mental development of children and young people” by airing the live footage. Halk TV had in particular gained sudden popularity for its 24-hour streaming when mainstream media outlets gave little coverage of the protests.
TV watchdog hacked
The global hacking collective Anonymous has hacked the website of the Turkish TV watchdog, after it fined the broadcasters that showed live streaming of the Gezi Park protests.
Anonymous announced the operation targeting the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), dubbed “Tango Down RTÜK,” via the Twitter account of the collective's Turkish members. “You have fined the media organizations that told the truth. Now Anonymous is punishing you,” the group said in its message. “You will not expel the one who speaks truth from nine villages,” it added, referring to a Turkish proverb meaning that those who tell the truth are never well received.
EU's strong criticism of Erdogan
In the strongest criticism yet of Erdogan's hard line, the European Union contradicted the prime minister and voiced support for the protesters, saying they had been largely peaceful and subject to indiscriminate violence from riot police. It demanded an investigation of the extreme reaction, and called on Erdogan to cancel big rallies of his Justice and Development party (AKP) scheduled for the coming weekend.
"There is a real polarisation of opinion. Major AKP rallies in Istanbul and Ankara this weekend would risk adding to the tension when we need to see a de-escalation," said Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief.
Senior European diplomats have also expressed strong concern over Turkey 's response to the protests.
German concern
Germany 's government was "following the news from Turkey with great preoccupation, especially the images of yesterday's police action," Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said on June 12, 2013 .
Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, added: "We expect prime minister Erdogan to de-escalate the situation and to seek a constructive exchange and peaceful dialogue."
Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said the unrest was the "first serious test for the endurance of democracy in Turkey and its accession to Europe ".
Source: Hürriyet Daily News, Dogan News Agency, AFP, The Guardian, BBC, Huffington Post,
Comments are moderated
