Police attack anti-corruption protest in Istanbul's Kadiköy

[BelgianMadCow]

Last edited Sun Dec 22, 2013, 02:45 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Hurriyet

Police forces have fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse groups of protesters in Kadıköy Square in Istanbul in protest to the Turkish government’s urban policies and recent corruption claims.

The tensions, which reportedly erupted after a small group of protestors threw stones at officers at a security checkpoint, calmed down after a brief intervention.

The Istanbul City Demonstration, which was planned to denounce the government’s mega construction projects that have threatened green areas of the city and urban transformation projects accused of causing social destruction, turned into a mass meeting of people to protest recently corruption allegations into four Cabinet members, their relatives, a mayor and a number of businessmen.

Hundreds of people, including representatives of some of Turkey’s nongovernmental organizations and opposition parties Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), protested the bribery with slogans like “Let’s protect Istanbul against plundering.”






Read more: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/police-attack-anti-corruption-protest-in-istanbuls-kadikoy-.aspx?pageID=238&nid=59950&NewsCatID=341

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The corruption investigation that is mentioned apparently is making Erdogan nervous. Policemen have been fired over it, it seems. I went looking for an english news source after protest & crackdown were reported on the state radio news here.

That radio news also mentioned that Erdogan believes that corruption investigation is masterminded by the US ambassador in Turkey. WTF?!

Here is a Reuters link, speaking of hundreds of protesters. And here's a chinese one, mentioning ten thousand protesters...

On edit: Looks like China was closer:

[SoLeftIAmRight]

1. here is the protest

[link:

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[BelgianMadCow]

2. Background to the protest and the allegation of US involvement from RT + Reuters Update

RT has an article up, from it:

On Saturday Erdogan denounced “international groups” and “dark alliances” for being behind the corruption probe which he said was undertaken with the intention of undermining his rule.

“Some ambassadors are engaged in provocative actions,” Erdogan announced in a televised conference on Saturday. He instructed them to do their jobs, prompting US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone to publically tweet that: “The United States has nothing to do with the ongoing corruption investigation.”

Claims that foreign powers have been behind the unrest gripping the country are reminiscent of Erdogan's stance in May and June. Six people died and 8,000 injured in the nationwide protests, which also saw the use of water cannon and tear gas by the security forces. In June, it emerged that the country's tear gas supplies were so depleted that they were beginning to run out.

I'm not gonna believe at face value what someone says that also did this:

Twenty-five police chiefs were sacked on Sunday as part of a crackdown on dissent - police or anyone else found to have been involved with the probe were being punished for their participation. Overall, about 70 police officers, including the head of Istanbul's force, have either been fired or been forced to change position.

Reuters has an update:

ANKARA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Thousands took to the streets of Istanbul on Sunday to protest against the government over a corruption scandal that has led to multiple arrests and exposed a rift between Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and an influential U.S.-based Muslim cleric.

Twenty-four people, including the sons of two ministers and the head of state-owned Halkbank, have been formally charged in connection with the corruption inquiry that Erdogan has called a "dirty operation" to undermine his rule.

...

But in Istanbul, anti-government demonstrators flooded into Kadikoy Square, where a protest against government urbanisation plans had been scheduled to take place, before they were largely dispersed by police firing teargas and water cannon.

"Everywhere is (Erdogan's) AK Party, everywhere is corruption," they chanted, a reference to the slogan of summer anti-government protests that centred on Istanbul's Taksim Square, "Everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance".