Gezi Park - Istanbul

[sihhi]

This was Mersin earlier this morning:

Some compare and contrast scenes:

 

[sihhi]

Early evening

Fewer digital cameras - it is a poorer city that the Western ones. But at least a dozen or so have had plastic marbles make contact. This is after leaving attention from a pharmacist.

 

[sihhi]

And as of 5 minutes ago - sit down protest:

 

[sihhi]

These are two separate government party youth wings being given free tickets and bus rides:

 

[phildwyer]

is this a view which attracts much support among turks?

You are a deeply stupid and profoundly ignorant person.

 

[Pickman's model]

You are a deeply stupid and profoundly ignorant person.

I'll take that as a 'no' then

 

[sihhi]

Government has a new set of ralllies this weekend - similar operation as last week.
It's crude in a way - but effective - the speech will be very long will describe how investment has flooded into country since 2002, and it will crowd out anything else probably over a dozen channels showing it live and will be number one item in the news reports Saturday and Sunday.

This is Ankara tonight - a park forum attacked by police wanting to cause trouble again. Still at half past one in the morning tear gas being shot out.

 

[sihhi]

Protests have continued every night mostly in Gazi Mahallesi, Istanbul and Dikmen, Ankara.

Today a protest in Lice, Diyarbakir Kurdish territory against a police station construction was attacked by gendarmerie with live bullets, 8 seriously injured 1 dead. Will have to wait to see what happens.

 

[phildwyer]

The protests have maınly morphed ınto Occupy-style sıt-ıns at varıous parks throughout the cıty. I just got back from one of them, whch was mostly populated by crustıes, but I'm told a more varıed crowd gathers at nıght. Got some free food and tea, had a chat... they had a pıle of empty tear-gas canısters, manufactured by ''Nonlethaltechnologıes'' of Pennsylvanıa USA... polıce cars kept cırcıng the park wıth sırens blarıng... varıous people claım that the CIA ıs bandonıng Erdogan...

There's goıng to be a march up Istıkılal tomorrow, whıch promıses to brıng another large-scale confrontatıon.

 

[sim667]

Has this video of a police beatdown in an underground garage been posted

(link as can't embed, sorry about the tastelessness of the rest of the site)..
http://www.tcmag.com/magazine/turkish_police_have_a_parking_garage_beat_up_party/

 

[happie chappie]

It's the fault of those pesky Jooz again:

http://rt.com/news/line/2013-07-02/#49135

 

[butchersapron]

Strong serious suggestions the park plan now overruled by a court. (I know it's about about that really but...)

 

[Remzi]

The park is now the scene of fights almost every day. Of course the police arrest only the protestors, not the AK thugs who come with knives.

One protestor got two years for a water pistol.

 

[Greebo]

The park is now the scene of fights almost every day. Of course the police arrest only the protestors, not the AK thugs who come with knives.

One protestor got two years for a water pistol.

FFS!

 

[Remzi]

FFS!

And the same day an AK thug carried a HUGE buthcres knife around the park, looking angrly at everyone and frightening them all. The police just talked to him and he went aweay. I'll try to find the picture from the newspaper.

 

[Remzi]

Here is the AK guy chasing people with the knife. Once more, this guy was NOT arrested!

 

[Greebo]

And the same day an AK thug carried a HUGE buthcres knife around the park, looking angrly at everyone and frightening them all.<snip>

At least he went away. Doesn't sound as if the police are doing their job at all though.

 

[butchersapron]

Here is the AK guy chasing people with the knife. Once more, this guy was NOT arrested!

There's two of them with those blades there.

 

[laptop]

Police seal off Istanbul's Gezi Park ahead of protester couple’s wedding

 

[Remzi]

At least he went away. Doesn't sound as if the police are doing their job at all though.

Yes they are.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

There's two of them with those blades there.

It's a wonder they haven't been shot.

 

[Greebo]

Yes they are.

Not the job which an outsider might reasonably expect the police to do, unless they take into account the abymsmal reputation which Turkey has when it comes to human rights.

 

[miss direct]

I'm bumping this thread up as things seem to be starting again. All the students are back in town and we had buses of riot police on campus last week.
A protester was killed last night in Antakya (South-Eastern city) after a tear gas cannister was thrown at him. Tonight people are out protesting and I've heard there is a lot of tear gas in Taksim

The ministry of higher education was trying to force universities to start earlier than planned (as if that would somehow quell protests?)

 

[butchersapron]

Sort of related as these crackdowns have accelerated since the subject of this thread:

Criticism intolerant Turkey jails six ‘Marxist’ journalists for life

The European Federation of Journalists in a statement denounced the verdict as “absurd”, saying it illustrated the Turkish government’s bid to control power.

“The verdict is a disgrace to the Turkish judicial system and an expression of the absolute power of the government,” it said. “It further shows that the regime does not tolerate any criticism.”

Turkey has long been criticised for a lack of press freedom.

The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) last year named it a “leading jailer of journalists”, identifying 76 who were in prison, 61 of them purely for their journalism.

But activists say the situation has deteriorated since the unrest that broke out earlier this year over the planned redevelopment of a park and evolved into mass protests against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is seen as increasingly authoritarian.

On the re-ottomanisation stuff mentioned earlier in the thread, the lst few days have apparently seen the demolition of lots of Ne mutlu Türküm diyene signs.

 

[TitanSound]

The 14 year old who was hit with a gas canister died today, aged 15.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26526198

 

[miss direct]

Yes, it has been kicking off all day here. There have been protests all day, all evening and they are expected all day tomorrow as well. Most of the students walked out of classes today to take part. I'm not sure how I am meant to teach my lesson on reading about beaches for six hours tomorrow

The elections are on March 30th.

 

[sim667]

Oh dear thats not good.

 

[TitanSound]

I imagine this is the calm before the storm. I think his funeral tomorrow will be the main event in terms of people showing how, rightly, pissed off they are with the regime.

 

[sim667]

There seems to be have been more unrest in the last 3 or 4 years that I remember at any time in my life (worldwide unrest that is).

Or maybe im just more interested in current affairs now?

 

[ska invita]

There seems to be have been more unrest in the last 3 or 4 years that I remember at any time in my life (worldwide unrest that is).

Or maybe im just more interested in current affairs now?

People have had a go at trying to find the common threads in recent uprisings, such as...
Good book on why it kicked off so much in the arab world here (review and summary in link) The People Want
http://socialistresistance.org/5703/people-want-a-radical-exploration-of-the-arab-uprising

and more well known and general is Why It's Still Kicking Off Everywhere: The New Global Revolutions
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/feb/17/paul-mason-kicking-off-review