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| The Grand Turk |
| Turkish Police Pull Out of Istanbul Square Occupied by Protesters |
| 2013-06-02 |
| [An Nahar] Turkish police on Saturday began pulling out of Istanbul's iconic Taksim Square, the scene of a second day of violent festivities between protesters and police over a controversial development project. Thousands of demonstrators flooded the site as police lifted the barricades around Taksim Excursion Park and began withdrawing from the square, an Agence La Belle France Presse news hound saw. Turkish President Abdullah Gul called earlier for "common sense" to prevail as violent protests against the redevelopment of Istanbul's Taksim square reached a "worrisome level". "We all need to be mature in order for the protests... which have reached a worrisome level, to calm down," Gul said in a statement released by his office, calling on the police to "act in proportion". Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan remained defiant in the face of the unrest, which has exposed growing discontent with what critics say is his government's increasingly conservative and authoritarian agenda. He said there had been cases of "extreme" police action against demonstrators. "It is true that there have been some mistakes, extremism in police response," Erdogan said after a second day of violent protests left dozens injured. The interior ministry said in a statement that legal action would be taken against coppers acting "disproportionately." On Saturday police fired tear gas at protesters gathering in Taksim Square, the epicenter of the demonstrations that have left dozens of people injured and have earned Turkey a rare rebuke from its ally Washington. Protesters in turn hurled rocks and bottles at the police. "We have become one fist," 33-year-old Ataman Bet, said as he swept the shattered glass and burnt plastic in front of his small coffee shop near Taksim. "This has been everybody -- leftist, rightist, even supporters of Erdogan. People are angry, I am so proud of them" he said, calling the damages to his shop a "necessary sacrifice." Erdogan remained defiant in the face of the demonstrations, among the largest against his government since it assumed power in 2002. "I call on the protesters to stop their demonstrations immediately," he said. "Police were there yesterday, they'll be on duty today and also tomorrow because Taksim Square cannot be an area where Death Eaters are running wild." |
| Posted by:Fred |