(The Independent) – Turkish police have let off tear gas and pressurised water against groups of protesters trying to reach a main Istanbul square for a second day of anti-government demonstrations. Police also cracked down on hundreds of people trying to march toward Parliament in the capital, Ankara.
The protests grew out of anger at heavy-handed police tactics to break up a peaceful sit-in to protect a park in Istanbul’s main Taksim square on Friday.
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It turned into a wider protest against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seen as becoming increasingly authoritarian, and spread to other Turkish cities. A human rights group said hundreds of people were injured in scuffles with police that lasted through the night.
On Saturday, police clashed with several groups of youths trying to reach Taksim. Some threw stones at police. Some 500 people marched along the Bosporus Bridge from Asian shore of the city, toward Taksim, on the European side, but were met with pressurized water and tear gas that filled the air in a thick coat of smoke.
Protest grows against authoritarian Islamic AKP
Öztürk Türkdogan, the head of the Turkish Human Rights Association, said hundreds of people in several cities were injured in the police crackdown and a few hundred people were arrested. The Dogan news agency said 81 demonstrators were detained in Istanbul.
The protest was seen as a demonstration of the anger had already been building toward Turkish police who have been accused of using inordinate force to quash demonstrations and of firing tear gas too abundantly, including at this year’s May Day rally.
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There is also resentment from mainly pro-secular circles toward the prime minister’s Islamic-rooted government and toward Erdogan himself, who is known for his abrasive style. He is accused of adopting increasingly uncompromising stance and showing little tolerance of criticism.
In a surprise move last week, the government quickly passed legislation curbing the sale and advertising of alcoholic drinks, alarming secularists. Many felt insulted when he defended the legislation by calling people who drink “alcoholics.”
“The use of (tear) gas at such proportions is unacceptable,” Turkdogan told The Associated Press. “It is a danger to public health and as such is a crime. Unfortunately, there isn’t a prosecutor brave enough to stand up to police. The people are standing up against Erdogan who is trying to monopolise power and is meddling in all aspects of life.”
Thousands marched through streets in several cities on Friday, calling on Erdogan to resign. Cars honked and residents banged on pots and pans in a show of solidarity with protesters.
Main opposition protests gas use with booklet depicting Turkish PM as `Gazman’
(Hürriyet Daily News) – In order to show his reaction against the steadily increasing use of tear gas during demonstrations under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, a deputy leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has issued a booklet titled “Gazman: The AKP’s history of tear gas,” in reference to “Gas Man” in English.
While issuing the booklet on his personal website, CHP Deputy Chair Umut Oran also introduced a bill to the Office of the Parliament Speaker for banning both the export and use of tear gas.
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“Politically, tear gas shows two realities. The first is `the gas phase’ of the AKP. Those who have been exposed to tear gas have also been experiencing what the AKP really is. The second reality is that those who fire tear gas are growing in their intoxication of power. The governing party becomes dizzy as it fires pepper gas, and it gets tipsy day and night as it puts pressure via tear gas. What has been experienced at Taksim Gezi Park is an example for this. This government does not love people, but has love for tear gas. The prime minister’s name from now on is `Gazman,'” Oran said in a written statement released on May 30.
