Flames, tear gas fill up streets as protesters defy Turkey PM
10 Jun 2013 6:27 AM IST
Turkish rioters burned tyres and hurled fireworks at police who fired back tear gas as unrelenting protests erupted into fresh unrest early Sunday, in defiance of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The new clashes raised pressure on Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted conservative government after he ordered an end to the protests, which have thrown up the fiercest challenge to his decade of rule. Tens of thousands poured into the streets in Istanbul, cradle of the 10 days of unrest, as well as in the capital Ankara and the major western city of Izmir.
‘Tayyip, resign!’ they yelled, in mostly peaceful protests. Local media said numerous people were injured in Ankara when police dispersed a crowd of about 10,000, sending them scrambling and tripping over each other with jets of water and gas. Fresh clashes also erupted in Istanbul’s western Gazi neighbourhood, a working class district largely peopled by Alevis, a Muslim minority opposed to Erdogan, where rioters hurled incendiary devices and taunted police.
The government insisted on Saturday that the protests were ‘under control’, but within hours some of the largest crowds yet packed Istanbul’s Taksim Square, where the unrest erupted on 31 May with a police crackdown on a campaign to save the adjacent Gezi Park from demolition.
The trouble spiralled into nationwide protests against Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), seen as increasingly authoritarian. Thousands have been injured and three people have died in the unrest so far, tarnishing Turkey’s image as a model of Islamic democracy.
The atmosphere was festive overnight in Taksim, which has seen no police presence since officers pulled out last Saturday, with crowds of local football supporters setting off red flares, filling the square with pink smoke as the masses danced and shouted deep into the night. Government ministers and President Abdullah Gul have struck a more conciliatory line than Erdogan.
The new clashes raised pressure on Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted conservative government after he ordered an end to the protests, which have thrown up the fiercest challenge to his decade of rule. Tens of thousands poured into the streets in Istanbul, cradle of the 10 days of unrest, as well as in the capital Ankara and the major western city of Izmir.
‘Tayyip, resign!’ they yelled, in mostly peaceful protests. Local media said numerous people were injured in Ankara when police dispersed a crowd of about 10,000, sending them scrambling and tripping over each other with jets of water and gas. Fresh clashes also erupted in Istanbul’s western Gazi neighbourhood, a working class district largely peopled by Alevis, a Muslim minority opposed to Erdogan, where rioters hurled incendiary devices and taunted police.
The government insisted on Saturday that the protests were ‘under control’, but within hours some of the largest crowds yet packed Istanbul’s Taksim Square, where the unrest erupted on 31 May with a police crackdown on a campaign to save the adjacent Gezi Park from demolition.
The trouble spiralled into nationwide protests against Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), seen as increasingly authoritarian. Thousands have been injured and three people have died in the unrest so far, tarnishing Turkey’s image as a model of Islamic democracy.
The atmosphere was festive overnight in Taksim, which has seen no police presence since officers pulled out last Saturday, with crowds of local football supporters setting off red flares, filling the square with pink smoke as the masses danced and shouted deep into the night. Government ministers and President Abdullah Gul have struck a more conciliatory line than Erdogan.
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