Istanbul rocked by protests and police violence
Istanbul (AsiaNews) - There have been nationwide protests and hundreds of people in response to Turkish police violence in clashes with protesters of "Occupy Gezi Park", who have been staging peaceful opposition to the transformation of Gezi Park into a shopping mall. The park is one of the few green lungs left in the city.
The central and most important
square in Istanbul, Taksim Square, is about to about to undergo a frightening
transformation, due to building speculation. It
was this very square that was literally heavily bombarded with chemicals - tear
gas - last night by Turkish police in their attempts to disperse the
protesters, who have long opposed the building project.
The
protesters object to this type of project and economic model, very popular in a
neo-Ottoman and consumer Turkey promoted by the AKP party as a model for the
Islamic world.
There is talk of hundreds of
wounded. Social networks report that one woman died. According
to the same social networks, the orders were clear: suppress the protest at all
costs.
Sirin
Oder, a Kurdish parliamentarian and member of the pro-Kurdish BDP party, as
well as the journalist Ahmet Sik Among were among the wounded.
Turkish police forces - closely tied
to the ruling AKP - they tried to track down all protesters, who in a desperate
attempt to avoid the violent repression found shelter in a nearby military
hospital in the central Gumusuyu cadessi. The
military barred police access to the hospital and even distributed gas masks to
protesters, to protect people from the tear gas.
The
protests of last night spread to the capital of Turkey, Ankara, Bodrum, Konya
and Izmir, with under the slogan 'Taksim Square is everywhere. "
The origin of these protests run deep. Istanbul's demonstrations are seen as a sign of the resistance of one part of society against the creeping neo-Ottoman Islamic homogenization that Erdogan's AKP is arrogantly implementing, thanks to its economic success. It is in short, is the protest of a movement that takes on the character of opposition to the overwhelming power of Erdogan and all his attempts at an authoritarian imposition.
This protest is also supported by
the opposition CHP party, which so far has been unable to produce a viable political
alternative.
Against
the brutal repression of Istanbul, there is also a position of the European
Union. Stefan
Fule, spokesperson of Commissioner for Enlargement, said that Turkey as a nation
on probation for EU membership must respect the right of expression and
association of its citizens.
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