Remember the Occupy protests that were so dramatically shut down by the use of excessive force and other police tactics that bordered more on a military response to non-violent activism than a public safety one? Well, its nice to know that one of our allies in the Middle East, and one of the few democracies (no not Israel, Turkey) is following our lead in dealing with their own citizen activism. Or were we following theirs? It’s so hard to tell.
Clashes broke out in Istanbul on Saturday after protesters marched on Taksim Square despite a government ban on gatherings in force there.
Riot police, water cannon and armoured vehicles were deployed to block access to the square and nearby Gezi Park. A number of demonstrators were reportedly arrested. […]
Protesters have clashed with police in recent months, with two men killed during angry demonstrations over a mining disaster that killed 301 people.
Anger also flared in March with the news of the death of a 15-year-old boy who had been in a coma since last June after being hit by a tear-gas canister during a protest.
The Guardian reports that over 80 protestors were arrested and 13 injured as a result of the police action. Well, at least our friendly neighborhood governments didn’t shut down Facebook, You Tube and Twitter nationwide during the Occupy protests. Then again, with the NSA listening in to everything, why bother?
