It's under the cover of trees:
"Protesters attacked in Istanbul; Police hit crowd with water, tear gas" by Tim Arango and Ceylan Yeginsu | New York Times, June 01, 2013
ISTANBUL — Police officers attacked a group of peaceful demonstrators with water cannons and tear gas on Friday in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, sending scores of residents, protesters, and tourists scurrying into shops and luxury hotels and turning the center of this city into a battle zone at the height of tourist season.
The description already makes me suspicious of who might be behind this, but let's hold off for now.
The police action was the latest violent crackdown by the government against a growing protest movement challenging plans to replace a park in Taksim Square, Istanbul’s equivalent of Cairo’s Tahrir Square, with a replica Ottoman-era army barracks that would house a shopping mall.
A growing protest movement? I may be mistaken, and I will surely check; however, I think it's the first I've seen of it in my Glob after hearing about it on the radio over a week ago.
But while the removal of the park, which is filled with sycamore trees and is the last significant green space in the center of Istanbul, set off the protests at the beginning of the week, the gatherings have broadened into a wider expression of anger against the heavy-handed tactics and urban development plans of the government and its leader, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. His party, now in power for a decade, is increasingly viewed by many Turks as becoming authoritarian.
Erdogan still has great support among Turkey’s religious masses, but secular critics cite his government’s sweeping prosecution and intimidation of journalists as evidence of its intolerance of dissent.
Obama's AP spy scandal!
Much of the anger also centers on the struggle over Istanbul’s public spaces. Erdogan’s government has proceeded with disputed urban development plans with little public input, while his police forces have increasingly used tear gas against peaceful protesters, resulting in scores of injuries, including the hospitalization Friday of a Kurdish lawmaker — who had become a vocal participant in the protests — after he was hit by a tear gas canister.
The protest movement comes amid continued public anger at Turkey’s policy of supporting the rebels in Syria, which many Turks feel has led to a violent spillover inside Turkey, including recent car bombings in the southern city of Reyhanli, which killed dozens of people.
Oooooooh, so THAT'S IT! This is a PEOPLE'S PROTEST because as it turns out MOST PEOPLE do NOT WANT WAR! Only a certain select few do, and we know who they are.
The rising public disenchantment represents a significant political challenge to Erdogan, who is planning to run for the presidency next year and has been trying to alter the constitution to create a more powerful presidential system.
In the early afternoon Friday, as protesters gathered and began shouting antigovernment chants, police officers in riot gear began surrounding the group, positioning vehicles that resembled tanks at the edge of the square around the protesters, who were mostly sitting.
--more--"
"Turkish police retreat from Istanbul square; Erdogan holds ground on plans for development" by Bulut Emiroglu and Suzan Fraser | Associated Press, June 02, 2013
ISTANBUL — Turkish police retreated from a main Istanbul square Saturday, removing barricades and allowing in thousands of demonstrators to calm tensions after a crackdown on furious antigovernment protests turned the city center into a battlefield.
A second day of national protests over a violent police raid of an antidevelopment sit-in in Taksim Square has revealed the depths of anger against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Many Turks view him as increasingly authoritarian and dismissive of opposing views.
Even as he appeared to relent to demonstrators by pulling back police and offering some concessions, Erdogan remained defiant, insisting that the demonstrations were illegitimate and promising to move ahead with redevelopment of the square. He challenged protesters that he could easily summon a million people for a progovernment rally.
A human rights group said hundreds of people were injured in scuffles with police that lasted through the night Friday.
As police retreated Saturday, some protesters hurled objects at officers and police vehicles, prompting police to fire several rounds of tear gas, the private Dogan news agency reported. The state-run Anadolu Agency said protesters threw fireworks at police.
Police also withdrew from a protest in Ankara, the capital.
At Taksim, protesters shouted antigovernment chants. Turkish celebrities also joined the crowds, with thousands milling around the square, waving flags, and cheering and clapping at antigovernment speeches.
I think this is spontaneous protest by some with bandwagoning by intelligence agency assets.
Protesters who had camped out at Taksim were angry over the planned removal of trees in the square, one of the few bits of green in sprawling Istanbul. Officials are planning to build a shopping mall and rebuild a former Ottoman army barracks.
Under Erdogan’s leadership in the past decade, Turkey has boosted economic growth and raised its international profile. Though widely supported by rural and conservative religious Muslims, he remains a divisive figure in mainly secular circles and is criticized for his often abrasive style.
Okay, what we have here is a convenient opportunity to get rid of that pesky Islamic government of Turkey. You know, the one that doesn't like Israel so much anymore.
In a surprise move last week, the government quickly passed legislation curbing the sale and advertising of alcoholic drinks, alarming secularists. Many felt insulted when he defended the legislation by calling people who drink ‘‘alcoholics.’’
The protest was also seen as a demonstration of the anger building toward Turkish police, who have been accused of using inordinate force to quash demonstrations and of using tear gas excessively.
In another gesture to placate protesters, Erdogan said that police may have used tear gas excessively. The Interior Ministry said police officers who abused their power would be punished. Despite statements of concerns by the United States and Britain over the crackdown, Erdogan remained steadfast early Saturday....
Oh, we are concerned.
The protests broke out just days after Istanbul pitched its bid to host the 2020 Olympic games to sports and Olympic officials at a conference in St. Petersburg.
Okay, who wouldn't want them to have that?
--more--"
Notice there was no mention of Syria generating protests in today's follow-up piece?
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Turkey’s leader dismisses protesters" Associated Press, June 03, 2013
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s prime minister on Sunday rejected claims that he is a dictator, dismissing protesters as an extremist fringe, even as thousands returned to the landmark Istanbul square that has become the site of the fiercest antigovernment outburst in years.
Over the past three days, protesters around the country have unleashed pent-up resentment against Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who, after 10 years in office, is seen by many Turks as an uncompromising figure with undue influence in every part of life.
A huge, exuberant protest in Taksim Square subsided overnight, but an estimated 10,000 people again streamed into the area on Sunday, many waving flags, chanting ‘‘victory, victory’’ and calling on Erdogan’s government to resign.
About 7,000 people took part in protests in Ankara, the capital, that turned violent on Sunday, with demonstrators throwing fire bombs and police firing tear gas. The state-run Anadolu Agency said 200 demonstrators were detained.
Some protesters have compared Erdogan to a sultan and denounced him as a dictator. Scrambling to show he was unbowed and appealing to a large base of conservative Turks who support him, Erdogan delivered two speeches on Sunday.
‘‘I am not the master of the people. Dictatorship does not run in my blood or in my character,’’ Erdogan said.
--more--"
