An Uneasy Calm Settles Over Turkey’s Taksim Square
June 12, 2013
A large force of riot police officers gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim Square yesterday, firing tear gas grenades and shooting water cannons into a crowd of demonstrators. The protesters, who have occupied the square for nearly two weeks, responded with rocks and firebombs before retreating into Gezi Park. By this morning, Taksim Square was relatively empty of protestors.
The preservation of Gezi Park was the initial focus of the protests. The park, which fronts on Taksim Square, is one of the last green spaces left in central Istanbul. The protests erupted in late May after the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced plans to develop the park into a shopping mall. After riot police initially used tear gas and nightsticks on demonstrators in early June, the protests spread to cities across the country.
Speaking yesterday before Turkey’s national assembly in Ankara, the capital, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned, “To those who want to continue with these incidents, I say ‘It’s over.’ Be warned, we will not tolerate it anymore.”
The unrest stems from the widespread belief that Erdogan has become increasingly authoritarian and has attempted to impose a religious and conservative lifestyle in a country with secular laws. A devout Muslim, Erdogan recently imposed restrictions on the sale of alcohol to natives, as opposed to tourists.
Throughout the protests, Erdogan has struck a defiant tone, vowing to press ahead with plans to redevelop Gezi Park. Erdogan agreed to meet today with representatives he appointed to discuss the protestors demands. Since Erdogan’s representatives had no real ties to the protestors, experts were uncertain how much could be achieved by the talks.
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