Erdogan's Dramatic U-Turn And Mothers Join Protesters In Turkey
By Countercurrents.org
14 June, 2013
Countercurrents.org
In a dramatic U-turn, Turkish prime minister Erdogan met members of a group opposed to the redevelopment of Gezi Park in Istanbul on the night of June 13, 2013. Although only hours before the Turkish PM warned his patience had run out and those occupying Gezi Park to leave. The referendum idea, floated by one of Erdogan's associates, seemed to have gone by the wayside. But demonstrations in Ankara were once again subject to police intervention during the early hours of June 14 while the critical meeting between Erdogan and the Taksim was under way.
The police used tear gas and water cannons against the demonstrators at the Kennedy Avenue . Five people have reportedly been taken into custody.
The protests in Ankara were less crowded due to heavy rains in the Turkish capital. Police had intervened at the same area during the three previous days.
Erdogan's surprise second meeting on Gezi Park 's fate in Ankara started past 11:30 p.m. local time.
After the start of the talks, the Taksim Platform reiterated that the threat of a police intervention should be removed in order to healthily assess the solution options.
Earlier, Erdogan, in a speech made to his AKP party in Ankara , lashed out at the European parliament over its non-binding motion for a resolution that expressed its concern over "the disproportionate and excessive use of force" by Turkish police.
He said: I won't recognize the decision that the European Union parliament is going to take about us.
Istanbul Governor Mutlu came together with young protesters at midnight June 13, during an informal meeting at a café on the shores of the Bosphorus in Dolmabahçe, a neighborhood which was the center of violent clashes two weeks ago.
Mutlu, very criticized after the police's disproportionate use of force in violent raids on Gezi Park , had given an appointment a few hours before via his Twitter account to young people who started the demos with a “sincere sensibility” for the environment for a tête-à-tête chat.
Mutlu reiterated his wish to visit the park on the insistence of the protesters, who invited him for lunch at the soup-kitchen of the community occupying Gezi.
For their part, the protesters expressed their anger regarding the heavy-handed police intervention to peaceful demos. They also shared their discomfort over the stigmatization of the demonstrators by the officials insisting on the activities of “marginal groups.” “I'm not a marginal. I'm someone who uses his democratic rights,” one protester told the governor.
Mutlu acknowledged that part of the younger generations felt unhappy because they did not “feel free enough”.
Mothers join demonstrators
Mothers held hands of each other and formed a human chain in Taksim between the protesters and the police, showing their support to the Gezi Park demonstration.
Istanbul Governor Mutlu called today on the mothers of the Gezi Park protesters to come and bring their children home.
So they came, but instead of picking up their children, the mothers joined them in their demonstration.
5th death
Ethem Sarisuluk, 26, who had been on life support for days after being reportedly hit in the head by a tear-gas cannister, was declared dead, according to family lawyer Sema Aksoy. His death brings to five the number of people killed during the protests, including one policeman.
Amnesty International has called the police violence in Istanbul “unprecedented”. “Police have been using tear gas as a punitive measure, rather than for crowd dispersal as it is intended,” said Andrew Gardner, the group's Turkey researcher. “There have been cases where police are firing directly at protesters, causing serious head injuries.”
The demonstrators' mood
The mood among demonstrators was “surprisingly resilient” – although they were expecting a police attack this evening.
Filiz Avunduk, a 28-year-old arts professional who is protesting in Gezi Park , said: We actually don't separate ourselves from anyone who is here. Because for the first time I know … people from different backgrounds, from different religions, from different political views are gathered here because they have somehow been offended by the current government, in a way.
So we don't separate ourselves here as them and us. If anyone is called terrorists, then we're terrorists as well. We're waiting here in peaceful protest … We asked for five basic things and until we get a response we won't be leaving here.
These were that “the park stays as a park”, that those arrested during the protests are freed, people are given the right to protest in public spaces around Turkey, the police are not allowed to use disproportionate force, and that the proposed “Third Bridge” in Istanbul is not built.
She said the protesters were helping and supporting each other with food and shelter.
More people had arrived in response to Erdogan's threat yesterday to end the protests within 24 hours – “and we will stand ground”.
Was she worried there would be a repeat of the violent police raid of Tuesday night? Avunduk said various government figures constantly made “confusing statements”, so “we always have that worry”.
One 36-year-old woman, a child psychologist, joined the demonstrators, her first night in the park, with her husband. She's left her nine-year-old son behind, whose parting message was: “Mum, Erdogan's not going to listen. This is going to take a long time.”
A retired bank worker and writer's comment was: “We're going to stay, and Erdogan's idiotic if he thinks he can shift us.”
A tour guide said the protest was now about “standing up for what they feel are their rights, which are being trampled on at the moment”.
A survey on June 13, 2013 looked into the reasons for people being in Gezi Park , and the overwhelming majority of people in the park were there to protest against Erdogan and against what the police have been doing in the last couple of weeks.
In a video, protesters talk about demonstrating in Gezi Park . One says: We want to protect this area. We want to tell something to [the] government and all over the country about freedom, about the park, about the green, about the trees.
Protesters are skeptical. One of them said: How can we trust him? We have been through this before. They even let dead people cast votes. How can we trust them?
Nobody leaves their gas masks or their glasses or headwear away. Everybody has that constantly, because everybody has the fear that it could happen at any time. Besides that, there is still an incredible solidarity happening and there is still an atmosphere of hope and waiting and standing ground solidly.
Turkish musician Yigit Özatalay also played at Taksim Square . Özatalay as saying: “Our freedoms are being restricted. I don't accept this as an artist.”
Hundreds of demonstrators have returned to Istanbul 's Taksim Square following a police raid on Tuesday night. Early this morning they chanted, sang and played football after a peaceful night. A concert pianist played a grand piano in the middle of the square last night, and riot police looked on from the side. But there were mixed messages from Turkey 's governing Justice and Development party (AKP) about its possible responses to the protests.
An insight into Erdogan's politics
Ihsan Yilmaz, columnist in Today's Zaman, provided a few insights into Erdogan's political situation. Headlined “Tension within the AKP”, he wrote on June 12, 2013:
Is it helpful to blame “the interest lobby” that allegedly benefited from the incidents? The question is this: Why are all these actors able to strike and shake the AKP and Turkey this time? They did not instantaneously emerge after the Gezi Park protests; they have always been there. … The country's prestige has been shaken. Its democratic credentials have been increasingly questioned, even by its friends. The economy has taken a serious blow, and the tourism industry will be the most negatively affected sector. …I think one of these factors is the AKP's internal fragility.
He added: Erdogan is so strong that it is almost impossible to hear dissenting opinions in his party. What is more, people in his party cannot even talk to journalists off the record about what was discussed in closed meetings.
He wrote: Erdogan has come to the limits of his power in the party. … Take, Istanbul mayor Topbas, or deputy prime minister Arinç, for example. Quite a few times, whatever Arinç said publicly was then publicly dismissed by Erdogan. When Arinç was acting prime minister last week, he played a conciliatory role towards the protesters and apologized on behalf of the government. When Erdogan was abroad for a few days, Turkey was calm. When he returned, Erdogan, through his actions, dismissed what Arinç said and did and took a fighting position. Can you tell me that Arinç does not care? President Gül's actions were similar to Arinç's and the same analysis can be made for him, too. Furthermore, up until now, we also had three AKP deputies, including the former culture minister, who have openly criticized Erdogan's actions and rhetoric on the Gezi incidents. It is no secret that there are several more such names, but they remain silent.
With regard to internal fragility and tension, the columnist wrote, we must mention Erdogan's chief advisor Akdogan's Star daily column on Tuesday. Akdogan was quite furious in his column and it was very unlike him. This suggests that the AKP leader may not be in full control of events now. Secondly, Akdogan was describing some insiders who were acting like vultures by acting like democrats, etc. I may be wrong, but several people understood it that he was mainly describing President Gül and then deputy PM Arinç. Seemingly unshaken by this direct attack, Gül went to Rize on Wednesday morning and said that the brutal police attack against the peaceful Gezi protestors at 5:00 a.m. was wrong. It is clear that he is underscoring his differences with Erdogan on the matter. If there is now tension between Gül and Erdogan, remembering that Erdogan tried to get Parliament to enact a law that would prevent Gül's candidacy for the presidential elections, we cannot say that it is Gül who started the tension.
Ihsan Yilmaz wrote: It now seems that the AKP will not be able to get 330 votes in Parliament for a constitutional change. Depending on the size of the fracture within the AKP, even a coalition with the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) may not guarantee this number, meaning that Erdogan may have to forget the Turkish-style presidential system he so enthusiastically wanted.
Source: The Guardian, Reuters, AFP, Hürriyet Daily News, Today's Zaman, Anatolia News Agency
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