Turkish Police Push Into Square Near Park Protest
Last edited Tue Jun 11, 2013, 06:12 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: New york times
Riot police officers moved into Taksim Square in central Istanbul on Tuesday, firing tear gas grenades and water cannons and enveloping the center of this city with smoke and the sounds of ambulance sirens. The square, which has become a sprawling and eclectic hub of grievance against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was transformed into a tableau of urban chaos.
The operation took all day and was still in progress as the workday ended, when more protesters began reoccupying the square and police officers cleared it again with tear gas. The scene took on the air of a movie set: fireworks lit by protesters and nonlethal sound bombs set off by the police punctuated the chants of Istanbul is ours! Taksim is ours!
At intervals during the day, the police would advance into part of the square, then retreat again to rest, as officers mingled with onlookers, smoked cigarettes or bought snacks from street vendors. Short outbursts of clashes with protesters alternated with intervals of calm, allowing onlookers and tourists to gather in relatively safe spots and watch the action unfold, and then flee down side streets when the tear gas became too thick.
The police advance was far from decisive in quashing the protest movement that has risen to challenge the rule of Mr. Erdogan and his conservative Justice and Development Party, which has roots in political Islam: Gezi Park, whose preservation was the initial focus of the protests, was left alone to its occupiers, who have erected a tent city there and have vowed to stay.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/world/europe/disputed-square-in-istanbul-turkey.html
Story had been updated since original posting.
Bosonic
(3,746 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)jessie04
(1,528 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)jessie04
(1,528 posts)He didn't order that and you know that. Shameful.
jessie04
(1,528 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,271 posts)http://www.voanews.com/content/protesters-are-part-of-conspiracy-against-government/1679301.html
Doesn't he have someone to tell him that sounding paranoid like that is going to damage Turkey's image far more than the protests? It puts him into the "authoritarian who can't deal with democracy or reality" group.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)just like in the usa. communities have riot trucks, utility-sized backpacks of tear gas, pressure sprayers!, police gear out the wazoo- costs local communities millions yet they can't afford to feed each school child a lunch.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)I've been watching it on CNN International.
It looks like back and forth between the protestors and the riot cops. They sweep the square with tear gas and water cannon, the demonstrators flee down side streets, the cops redeploy backwards, and the demonstrators come back. Rinse, repeat.