Related: Slow Saturday Special: Cutting Down the Turkish Protests
They keep growing:
"Turkey’s leader says extremists to blame for unrest" by Sebnem Arsu | New York Times, June 04, 2013
ISTANBUL — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said Monday that four days of protests and clashes in the streets of Turkey’s major cities were the work of extremists, led by opponents trying to overthrow his government.
But the president of the country, Abdullah Gul, called for calm from all sides and said protests were a natural part of democracy.
Riot police launched rounds of tear gas against protesters on Monday, on the fourth day of violent demonstrations. Protests were held in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir by activists calling for an end to Erdogan’s decade in power.
Erdogan accused the main opposition party of using the demonstrations, which flared into a widespread confrontation with security forces on Friday, for political gain.
“If we set aside those that joined upon their innocent motives and information they got from the media, there are also ones that attended an event organized by extremists,” Erdogan said in a televised speech.
He suggested the possibility of foreign provocation, but did not specify its origin.
Israel?
One protester died in Ankara after a vehicle slammed into a crowd there late Sunday night, the first reported death connected to the protests, the Associated Press reported.
Speaking at a news conference before departing for Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, Erdogan also dismissed concerns that his government targeted secular lifestyles.
Gul, speaking in Izmir, where thousands of demonstrators battled police early Monday, underlined the importance of democratic opposition. After Erdogan referred to his electoral victories as a license to carry out policies as he saw fit, Gul stressed the limited weight of parliamentary majority. Democracy, he said, “does not only mean elections.”
“There is nothing more natural than various ways of expression other than elections if there are different views,’’ he said. “Peaceful protests are surely a part of that.”
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"Turkish official apologizes, calls crackdown ‘unjust’; Police continue to use deterrents against protesters" by Suzan Fraser | Associated Press, June 05, 2013
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s deputy prime minister offered an apology Tuesday for the government’s violent crackdown on an environmental protest, a calculated bid to ease days of antigovernment rallies in the country’s major cities.
The message was a bit mixed, however, as hundreds of riot police deployed with water cannons around the prime minister’s office in Ankara, the capital....
I'm not sure what this is about. What I do know is opposition to the Syrian war as a catalyst was mentioned once.
The impact of his statement was unclear. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is visiting Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, has undermined previous statements by his ministers and has dismissed the protesters as a fringe minority stirred up by the opposition.
Tens of thousands of mostly secular-minded Turks have joined antigovernment rallies since Friday, when police launched a predawn raid against a peaceful sit-in protesting plans to uproot trees in Istanbul’s main Taksim Square. Since then, the demonstrations have spiraled into Turkey’s biggest antigovernment disturbances in years.
Late Tuesday night, thousands of people were demonstrating in the square. Many of the streets leading into it have been blocked by barricades that protesters have built of overturned dumpsters, metal railings, and damaged vehicles to keep police away.
At one point, near the German Consulate, police fired tear gas at several hundred protesters who were throwing bricks at the officers.
A 22-year-old man died during an antigovernment protest in a city near Turkey’s border with Syria, and officials gave conflicting reports on what caused his death.
Police have been accused of using disproportionate force in trying to break up demonstrations. In a boisterous debate in Parliament, Interior Minister Muammer Guler defended police officers’ use of tear gas against demonstrators trying to reach government buildings.
‘‘Should we have allowed them to march and take over Parliament?’’ he asked. ‘‘We do not have the luxury to allow illegal acts and will never have that luxury.’’
Bulent Arinc, who is standing in for the prime minister while he is out of the country, said he had no information about reports that riot police had erased or painted over numbers on their helmets so people could not report them in the event of abuse.
Guler, the interior minister, said protesters had destroyed CCTV cameras around Taksim, and the vandalism would make it harder for the government to detect abuse by police and identify perpetrators.
Why would protesters do that?
The Turkish Human Rights Association said some 3,300 people nationwide were detained during four days of protests, although most have since been released. At least 1,300 people were injured, the group said, although it said the number could be higher.
Protests have been directed at what critics say is Erdogan’s aggressive and authoritarian style of governing. Many accuse him of forcing his conservative, religious outlook on citizens’ lives in this mainly Muslim but secular nation. Erdogan rejects the accusations, saying he respects all lifestyles.
Arinc said the government was ‘‘sensitive’’ to the demands of the largely urban, prosecular section of society that had not voted for Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted party.
‘‘I would like to express this in all sincerity: everyone’s lifestyle is important to us and we are sensitive to them,’’ he said.
There were several other efforts to ease tensions.
Sirri Sureyya Onder, legislator from a Kurdish party who became a hero to many for standing in front of bulldozers to prevent the destruction of trees in Istanbul’s Taksim square, called on demonstrators to continue protests in a more festival-like manner.
Related: Memory Hole: Remembering Rachel
The state-run Anadolu Agency said police in Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast, handed over carnations and roses to a group of protesters.
Never a good sign for a ruler.
Both Onder and Arinc spoke after a meeting with President Abdullah Gul who, contrary to Erdogan, has praised the mostly peaceful protesters as expressing their democratic rights.
Gul and Erdogan could face off next year in Turkey’s presidential election.
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"Turkish activists present demands" by Suzan Fraser | Associated Press, June 06, 2013
ANKARA, Turkey — Activists presented a list of demands on Wednesday they said could end days of antigovernment demonstrations that have engulfed Turkey, as trade unions joined in the outpouring of anger, shouting slogans and wielding banners calling for the prime minister to resign....
Thousands of union members on a two-day strike marched into Istanbul’s landmark Taksim Square and central Ankara in a show of support for protesters....
Police used tear gas and water cannons to break up the gathering in Ankara after about eight hours.
To defuse the tension, the deputy prime minister met with a group whose attempt to prevent authorities from ripping up trees in Taksim has snowballed into the nationwide protests.
That has an odd feeling to it, like a cover story akin to the Muslim movie that was never made. Is USrael unhappy with Erdogan?
Over five days, police have deployed water cannons and tear gas has clouded the country’s city centers. The Ankara-based Human Rights Association says close to 1,000 people have been injured and more than 3,300 people have been detained.
The protests appear to have developed spontaneously and remain leaderless. It was not certain that the tens of thousands of protesters would heed any call by the activist group to cease.
Turkey's Occupy?
The group of academics, architects, and environmentalists, known as the “Taksim Solidarity Platform,” was formed to keep Taksim Square from redevelopment, including the rebuilding of an Ottoman army barracks and a shopping mall. The protests were sparked by fury over a heavy-handed predawn police raid Friday to roust activists camping to stop the plans.
In Ankara, protesters sarcastically called themselves “looters,” a reference to Erdogan’s earlier characterization of the demonstrators. A sign on a stall in Taksim providing free food and water read “Revolution Market.” A whirling dervish holding a gas mask entertained spectators in the square.
Erdogan has inflamed protesters, calling them an extremist fringe and refusing to back away from plans to revamp Taksim. Thursday could offer a pivotal test of whether Erdogan will soften his line as he returns in the late evening from a trip abroad.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry said earlier this week that the United States was troubled by reports of excessive force by the police. He also said Washington is deeply concerned by the large number of people who have been injured.
That type of statement is generally indicative of a lack of U.S. sponsorship ,of the protest movement.
The comments angered Turkey, with the state-run news agency reporting on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had a telephone conversation with Kerry and accused the United States of treating Turkey “as a second-class democracy.” He also complained that Washington did not react to similar protests in other countries, the Anadolu Agency said.
Kerry has maintained that his comments were not intended as interference in Turkey’s internal affairs, but rather an honest expression of the importance the United States places on such values in all countries.
In Turkey’s third largest city, Izmir, police detained 25 people for “spreading untrue information” on social media and allegedly inciting people to join the protests, Anadolu reported. They were detained late Tuesday, the agency said. Police were looking for 13 others, it added.
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"Erdogan says destruction of Istanbul park to proceed; Turkish leader rips damage at demonstrations" by Sebnem Arsu | New York Times, June 07, 2013
ISTANBUL — Refusing to yield to a week of protests in dozens of Turkish cities, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that a redevelopment project that included the destruction of a park in central Istanbul would proceed as planned.
Speaking at a joint news conference in Tunis with his Tunisian counterpart as part of a North African tour, Erdogan acknowledged that the initial large protest in Istanbul’s Taksim Square last Friday was based on environmental concerns, but said that the subsequent destruction of public property in riots that spread to more than 60 cities was unacceptable.
“Their problem is different,” he said, referring to the Taksim Square protesters, in a speech that was broadcast live in Turkey. “Environment does not only mean the green, but also history and culture. Environment does not mean destroying public tools and machines.”
The protesters were objecting to the government’s plans to raze Gezi Park in Taksim Square, the last significant green space in central Istanbul, and erect a replica of Ottoman-era military barracks.
Initial plans called for the barracks to house a shopping mall, but Erdogan has also said a cultural center might be built inside; it was unclear on Thursday what the barracks would contain.
“We are going to rebuild Topcu Kislasi in accordance with its original plan,” he said, referring to the name given to the barracks. “We are rebuilding a monument that existed there in the past.”
Nothing about it financially benefiting his son-in-law.
“We planted many trees in the last 10 years,” he continued. “Our Taksim project is one that holds history, environment, and culture together.”
Two protesters have been killed in the civil unrest, which has drawn a violent response from riot police officers using tear gas and water cannons. Interior Minister Muammer Guler, in a statement on Thursday reported by the semiofficial Anatolian News Agency, said 117 people had been detained, including six foreigners. Nearly all have been released, he said, adding that investigations were underway to identify social media users making “provocative efforts to incite our nation.”
Did they give the NSA a call?
In Izmir, a major city on the west coast, more than 35 high school and college students were detained on Tuesday because of messages they shared over Twitter, which has become a leading tool in coordinating antigovernment protests.
Their detentions prompted a protest from Metin Feyzioglu, head of the Turkish Bar Association....
When the lawyers start coming out against you....
Erdogan again blamed radical organizations for spreading the protests beyond Istanbul, including a left-wing organization accused in a suicide bombing at the US Embassy in Ankara, the capital, in February that killed a Turkish security guard....
Related: Suicide Attack on U.S. Embassy in Turkey
At Gezi Park on Thursday, Turks responded to Erdogan’s latest remarks with resignation and disappointment.
Some said they had assumed that Erdogan would reject their demands. But others said they had expected more....
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The Globe says he must listen seriously to the demands of the protesters.
"Protests crack Turkey’s worldwide image" by Elena Becatoros and Suzan Fraser | Associated Press, June 08, 2013
ISTANBUL — A violent police crackdown on a small environmental sit-in at Istanbul’s central Taksim Square has done more than spawn a week of protests across the country. It has left cracks in the shiny international image of a tolerant and deeply democratic Turkey.
It might even have rattled the nation’s grand ambitions on the world stage, which include a bid to host the 2020 Olympics and its longstanding aim to join the European Union.
Thousands of protesters gathered for the eighth consecutive night Friday in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, where the demonstrations originally began, and about 10,000 showed up at the main square in the capital, Ankara.
They vented anger at Prime Minister Reccep Tayyip Erdogan, who has said the protests are bordering on illegality and must stop immediately.
In his decade in power, Erdogan has been the driving force behind many of the reforms essential to push Turkey’s EU bid forward, including significant improvements to human rights legislation. The country’s economy has blossomed and infrastructure projects have burgeoned, especially in Istanbul.
But many say he has gone too far. Dissent is rarely tolerated and some outspoken critics, including journalists and politicians, have been jailed.
Now critics and even some supporters accuse the prime minister of ignoring the fears and concerns of the 50 percent of the electorate who did not vote for him.
‘‘Turkey has been harmed in many ways in the last 10 days in terms of the image [and] financial markets,’’ said Cengiz Aktar, professor of international relations of Bahcesehir University.
Now it is getting $erious.
The main index on the Istanbul Stock Exchange fell by 8 percent Thursday, after Erdogan made statements in Tunisia during a North Africa trip saying that the development project for Taksim Square would go ahead.
It recouped some of its losses Friday, but has lost about 9 percent in a week.
Stock markets are $ending a $ignal.
‘‘There is only one, just one person who can solve this problem and his name is Erdogan. We are all watching his lips,’’ Aktar said.
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"Prime minister unable to deter Turkish protesters
ISTANBUL — Tens of thousands of people thronged Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Saturday, and thousands more turned out in Ankara in protests that have presented Turkey’s prime minister with the first serious challenge to his leadership entered a second week. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party dismissed the protests as an opposition bid to topple the government, and rejected calls for early elections. The rioting was sparked by outrage over a police crackdown on an environmental protest May 31 (AP)."
We call it a Turkish backfire.
"Turkish prime minister demands protests end; Supporters cheer series of tough, fiery speeches" by Suzan Fraser and Elena Becatoros | Associated Press, June 10, 2013
ANKARA, Turkey — In a series of increasingly belligerent speeches to cheering supporters on Sunday, Turkey’s prime minister demanded an end to the 10-day antigovernment protests that have spread across the country, saying those who do not respect the government will pay.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his patience was running out with the protesters, who have occupied Istanbul’s main Taksim Square for more than a week and have held hundreds of demonstrations in dozens of cities across the country.
Raising the stakes for those opposing him on Turkish streets and squares, Erdogan said he plans to bring out his supporters for rallies in Ankara and Istanbul next weekend.
Erdogan’s increasingly fiery tone could inflame tensions, with tens of thousands of antigovernment protesters in the country’s largest city, Istanbul, and thousands in the capital, Ankara, remaining on the streets. On two occasions, including one in the southern city of Adana on Saturday night, clashes have been reported between Erdogan supporters and protesters.
Protests have been held in 78 cities across the country since May 31, sparked by a violent police crackdown on a peaceful protest objecting to the redevelopment of Taksim Square and its Gezi Park.
While true, the wording suggests the U.S. may be playing a role. Maybe Erdogan not on board with Syria/Iran escalation and invasion.
They have since evolved into a general denunciation of what many see as Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian ways after a decade in power.
The protests have attracted a diverse crowd from all social backgrounds and age groups.
Think what you will of it, but that is a representative sample of ALL the PEOPLE!
Three people have died, including a police officer in Adana who fell into an underpass under construction while chasing demonstrators. More than 4,300 protesters have sought medical treatment, human rights groups have said.
‘‘We showed patience but our patience has its limits,’’ Erdogan told a crowd of thousands of party supporters who turned out to cheer his arrival at Ankara airport on Sunday, in the third of about seven speeches given through the afternoon and evening.
Looking much like a candidate on a campaign trail, Erdogan delivered speeches at two airports, a sports hall, two Ankara districts, and atop a bridge before heading to his party headquarters. At each, thousands of supporters turned out to cheer him.
So we are told. Apparently official photos were doctored and shopped.
‘‘Stand firm, don’t yield, Turkey is with you,’’ they chanted.
Erdogan called repeatedly for the protests to end.
‘‘I call on my brothers who are duped: please put an end to your actions. Look, we have come to these days with patience. As a prime minister I say: enough!’’
In a separate speech, he added: ‘‘Otherwise I will have to speak the language you understand. Patience has an end. You cannot show Turkey as a country where there is an environment of terror.’’
As he spoke, tens of thousands of protesters turned out in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, while thousands more turned out on the seafront in the western coastal city of Izmir, television footage showed. In the capital, police used water cannon to break up a gathering by thousands of demonstrators in Ankara’s Kizilay Square.
Clashes also broke out between about 2,000 protesters and riot police in Sultangazi, a troubled neighborhood on the outskirts of Istanbul that is populated mainly by Kurds and Alevis.
Erdogan once again belittled the protesters, calling them ‘‘capulcu,’’ the Turkish word for vandals.
‘‘If you look in the dictionary, you will see how right a description this is,’’ he said. ‘‘Those who burn and destroy are called capulcu. Those who back them are of the same family.’’
What's the word for government oppressor?
The protesters have turned Erdogan’s label of them as ‘‘capulcu’’ into a humorous retort, printing stickers with the word, scrawling it on their tents, and uploading music videos onto social network sites.
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"Turkish police move past barricades" Associated Press, June 11, 2013
ISTANBUL — Hundreds of police clad in riot gear pushed easily past barricades in Istanbul’s central Taskin Square early Tuesday, and many of the protesters who had occupied the square for more than a week were pushed into a nearby park.
Police briefly fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets, prompting many of the protesters to flee the square into Gezi Park, where many had been camping.
Some of the activists fired fireworks, fire bombs and stones at police water cannons.
Earlier, demonstrators had manned the barricades and prepared for a possible intervention when officers began massing in the area.
Police began taking down large banners that had been hung by protesters on a large building on the edge of the square, replacing them with a large Turkish flag and a banner with the picture of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the beloved founder of the secular republic 89 years ago after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Also see: http://m-kemal.blogspot.com
The great Muslim liberator of Turkey was a secret Jew?
On Monday, Turkey’s opposition party leader accused the prime minister of escalating tensions and dragging the country ‘‘into the fire’’ as antigovernment protests that have led to three deaths hit their 11th straight day.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan headed a Cabinet meeting to discuss the protests, the first serious challenge to his 10-year rule. On Sunday he made a series of fiery speeches in three cities, saying the government’s patience was running thin, demanding an end to the protests, and threatening to hold those who don’t respect his government to account. He has also called for major progovernment rallies in Ankara and Istanbul next weekend.
The Hurriyet newspaper on Monday quoted Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the opposition Republican People’s Party, urging Erdogan to reduce tensions.
Web version cut:
"Why is the prime minister being so stubborn toward his people? He should not do it. " Kemal Kilicdaroglu said in comments published in Hurriyet newspaper. "We are witnessing a prime minister who is trying to hold on to power by creating tensions."
Crowds swelled into tens of thousands in Istanbul's Taksim Square and main city centers in Ankara and Izmir as Erdogan delivered his speeches. Police broke up the protest near government buildings in Ankara with tear gas and water cannons.
The protests were sparked May 31 by a violent police crackdown on a sit-in at a park on Taksim to prevent a redevelopment project. They have since spread to 78 cities across the country.
Protesters vent anger at what they say are Erdogan's growing autocratic ways and his attempts to impose religious and conservative views on their lifestyles. Erdogan, a devout Muslim, says he is committed to Turkey's secular laws and rejects charges of autocracy."
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NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Turkish police, protesters clash throughout day; Istanbul official says more police action coming" by Elena Becatoros and Suzan Fraser | Associated Press, June 12, 2013
ISTANBUL — Riot police fired tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets in daylong clashes that lasted into the early hours of Wednesday, overwhelming protesters who have been occupying Istanbul’s central Taksim Square and its adjacent Gezi Park in the country’s most severe antigovernment protests in decades.
U.S. has been rather mute on this. If it were Iran the media and government would be screaming about free protests and brutality, blah, blah, blah.
The crisis has left Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan looking vulnerable for the first time in his decade in government, and has threatened to tarnish the international image of Turkey, a Muslim majority country with a secular tradition, a burgeoning economy, and close ties with the United States.
These are the important things; not the people's complaints.
Thousands of police moved into the square early Tuesday, pushing past improvised barricades set up by the protesters who have swarmed through the massive square and accompanying Gezi Park by the tens of thousands for the past 12 days.
Police fired repeated rounds of tear gas in running battles with protesters who were hurling fireworks, bottles, rocks, and firebombs.
Btw, the canisters say made in "U.S.A.", and I didn't learn that from the paper.
In a cat-and-mouse game that lasted all day, the police repeatedly cleared the square, only for demonstrators to return.
More than 30,000 converged on the square again as dusk fell and were repelled by water cannons, rubber bullets, and tear gas after Istanbul’s governor, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, said the police came under attack by ‘‘marginal groups.’’
Certainly are brave whoever they are.
The area reverberated with the echoes of exploding tear gas canisters into the night, while volunteers ferried dozens of injured people to ambulances.
Early Wednesday, police surrounded Gezi Park, where protesters had set up a tent city, firing repeated rounds of tear gas into the area. Protesters scrambled to flee. Many returned after the riot police had passed.
A peaceful demonstration against Gezi Park’s redevelopment that began more than two weeks ago has grown into the biggest test of Erdogan’s authority in his decade of power, sparked by outrage over a violent police crackdown on May 31 in the park.
The unrest has spread to 78 cities across the country, with protesters championing their objections to what they say is the prime minister’s increasingly authoritarian style and his perceived attempts to impose a religious and conservative lifestyle on a country with secular laws — charges he rejects.
The unhappiness with violence in the south based on Turkey's support of Syrian mercenaries is again not mentioned. Turns out average people, wherever they are found, don't like war.
Four people have been killed, including a police officer, and about 5,000 have been treated for injuries or the effects of tear gas, according to the Turkish Human Rights Foundation.
Gezi Park, with its thousands of camped-out demonstrators, has become the symbol of the protests. Both the governor and the police initially promised that only Taksim Square would be cleared, not the park.
But late into the night, the governor suggested a more muscular police sweep might be imminent. Tear gas was fired into the park, as protesters scrambled for cover.
‘‘We will open the square when everything normalizes in the area, and our security forces completely control the area,’’ Mutlu told A Haber news channel. ‘‘Our children who stay at Gezi Park are at risk, because we will clean the area of the marginal groups,’’ he said.
Chilling words coming from a country that exterminated Armenians a century ago.
‘‘We won’t allow our government to be seen as weak,’’ Mutlu said.
In Ankara, the capital, police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse several hundred protesters — some throwing stones — who gathered in sympathy.
Weak!
Tuesday’s clashes came a day after Taksim saw its smallest gathering since the demonstrations began. The government had said Erdogan would meet with some of those occupying the park on Wednesday.
‘‘The relative calm yesterday was deceptive,’’ said Robert O’Daly, Turkey analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit.
‘‘Mr. Erdogan’s offer of dialogue appears to have been merely tactical. The appearance of riot police in the square this morning and renewed use of tear gas against the protesters fits better with his defiant rhetoric,’’ he said.
Erdogan, a devout Muslim, says he is committed to Turkey’s secular laws and denies charges of an authoritarian manner.
Confident of his position after winning the last elections in 2011 with 50 percent of the vote, Erdogan has insisted he will prevail. He made it clear that he has come to the end of his patience with the protesters, whom he accused of sullying Turkey’s image abroad....
You are doing that to yourself!
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I don't know what to make of the protests. Are they an attempted coup by EUSraeli intelligence agencies, or are they legitimate? Are they both? Is Erdogan backing off on the Syria/Iran component of the neo-con plan?
The amount of press coverage certainly gives me pause. Usually indicates an agenda at work. People in Europe protest nearly every day, and yet I rarely see or read about it.
UPDATE:
"Turkey open to referendum to end protests" by Elena Becatoros and Jamey Keaten | Associated Press, June 13, 2013
ISTANBUL — Turkey’s government offered a first concrete gesture aimed at ending nearly two weeks of street protests Wednesday, proposing a referendum on a development project in Istanbul that triggered demonstrations that have become the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 10-year tenure.
Despite the offer, protesters continued to converge on Istanbul’s Taksim Squire, the epicenter of 13 days of clashes between stone-throwing youth and riot police firing tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets — an early sign that the proposal hadn’t defused the demonstrators’ concerns.
Word of such a referendum came after Erdogan hosted talks with a small group of activists. Many civil society groups behind the protests boycotted those talks in the capital, Ankara, saying they were not invited and that the attendees did not represent them.
The discussion was the first sign that Erdogan was looking for an exit from the showdown, and came hours after some European leaders expressed concern about strong-arm Turkish police tactics and hopes that the prime minister would soften his stance....
It's always okay when their security forces do it at home, though.
In a more defiant note, Justice and Development party spokesman Huseyin Celik said the ongoing sit-in in Gezi Park, next to the square, would not be allowed to continue ‘‘until doomsday.’’
**************************************
The protests took on a new flavor earlier Wednesday as thousands of black-robed lawyers stormed out of their courthouses to deride allegedly rough treatment of their colleagues detained by police a day earlier....
Okay, if the lawyers are out there....
Erdogan has become the center of the protesters’ ire over his alleged authoritarian streak. So a referendum would be a political gamble that the government would win the vote and the demonstrators would go home....
I smell a rig, 'er, a rat!
In a sign of the protesters’ suspicion about Erdogan, several in Gezi Park said they thought the government would rig the referendum’s result — or balk at holding it at all.
I'm beginning to wonder where there is not a rigged election, because they all seem to be when it comes to the West.
‘‘I don’t think anything changed with that,’’ protester Hatice Yamak said of the referendum plan. ‘‘We don’t think he will do it — I think he’s lying.’’
Across Turkey, thousands of demonstrators have been mobilizing nearly every night — mostly in Istanbul in recent days. As if to let the referendum proposal sink in, the Istanbul governor, Huseyin Avni Mutlu, tweeted that riot police would not enter Gezi Park on Wednesday.
A union leader who met earlier with Erdogan suggested the government was preparing a final crackdown to quash the protests.
Bendevi Palandoken of Konfederation said that Erdogan ‘‘told me that the protests will end in 24 hours, and the police intervention will comply with European Union standards.’’
‘‘Erdogan also told me he would meet with the youngsters today and will learn their complaints,’’ Bendevi said, referring to Wednesday’s talks.
A spokesman for the prime minister could not be immediately reached for comment, and the Interior Ministry declined to comment.
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