What happened in Egypt has them worried....
"Turkey redefines military’s duties; Generals’ ability to interfere in politics limited" by Suzan Fraser | Associated Press, July 14, 2013
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s Parliament has amended an armed forces’ regulation long relied on by the country’s generals as grounds for intervening in government, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported Saturday, in a move that further strips the military of its political influence.
The military has wielded huge political power in the country, overthrowing four governments between 1960 and 1997 and issuing a warning against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted government as recently as 2007.
The generals have in the past pointed to an internal military regulation that stipulated the army’s duty as watching over and protecting the Turkish republic, to justify army takeovers or stepping in whenever they felt uneasy over civilian leaders’ policies.
In a midnight vote Friday, legislators decided to redefine the military’s duty as: “defending the Turkish homeland against external threats and dangers, and maintaining and strengthening military powers to ensure deterrence.”
They also emphasized the Turkish army’s role in international peacekeeping missions, saying its tasks also included taking up any overseas duty assigned by Parliament and helping secure international peace.
Erdogan’s party proposed the amendment to strip the military of any legal basis for intervention in domestic affairs following a spate of antigovernment protests in June, which the prime minister has blamed on a conspiracy against his democratically elected government. The protesters were airing discontent with what opponents have said is Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian style of governing and moves to impose his conservative and religious views on society.
The vote also comes at a time when Turkey has spoken out against the Egyptian military’s overthrow of the country’s Islamist leader, Mohammed Morsi, with whom Erdogan had formed an alliance.
‘‘This is an important legal reform that ends any legal justification for staging coups,’’ Lale Kemal, an expert on military affairs and columnist for Today’s Zaman newspaper, said of the amendment.
However, further reforms were needed to assert full civilian control over the military, including placing the armed forces under the defense ministry’s subordination, Kemal said.
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Related: Turkey's Protests End
So I was told.
"Turkish police round up, detain 20 protesters; Erdogan still blames outsiders for recent unrest" by Suzan Fraser | Associated Press, June 26, 2013
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish police on Tuesday detained at least 20 people allegedly involved in violent protests, as the country’s prime minister continued to lash out at protesters — and a BBC journalist — he said were part of a conspiracy to harm Turkey.
Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters marched to Istanbul’s central Taksim Square, this time to denounce a court decision that freed — pending trial — a police officer accused of killing a demonstrator during the antigovernment protests that have swept the country since May 31. Police surrounded the square, blocking their access, a heavy-handed police clampdown and an increasingly authoritarian way of governing....
Erdogan holds unspecified foreign forces, bankers, and media outlets responsible for the protests that had largely subsided until the court freed the police officer.
In an address to members of his Islamic-rooted party in Parliament, Erdogan reiterated that the protests were orchestrated by forces wanting to prevent Turkey’s rise. He repeated his claim that the same conspiracy was at work in Brazil, saying both countries had paid off debts to the International Monetary Fund....
He seems kind of paranoid, huh?
Related: Slow Saturday Special: Brazil Protests Fizzled
So did the coverage of the Turkish protests, which makes me inclined to believe they were not U.S. -supported.
Also see: Woman, daughter return from Brazil
That's been it from Brazil since when it comes to the Globe.
‘‘From the start, some people, internally and externally, have tried to portray the protests as totally innocent and just, and the police of having systematically used force,’’ Erdogan said. ‘‘Certain media in Turkey were lead provocateurs. The foreign media took part in these operations.’’
He targeted a Turkish BBC reporter who tweeted about a forum held by protesters, where participants reportedly suggested a six-month boycott of goods that they said would help slow down the economy. Without mentioning her by name, Erdogan accused Selin Girit of being ‘‘part of a conspiracy against her own country.’’
‘‘Their aim is to prevent democracy, to harm Turkey’s economy, to hit tourism,’’ Erdogan said.
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"Turkey targets social media; Looks to punish those inciting protests online" by Suzan Fraser | Associated Press, June 28, 2013
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish authorities are investigating people who allegedly insulted state officials or incited riots on social media, the deputy prime minister said Thursday, in a sign the government is intent on meting out punishment over the massive protests that swept the country in June.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has faced tough international criticism over his government’s heavy-handed crackdown on the unprecedented demonstrations. But in a possible attempt to soften the blow to the country’s democratic reputation, his deputy also said the government would propose further checks on the country’s historically powerful military.
The Aksam newspaper said police had provided Istanbul prosecutors with a list of 35 names of people who had allegedly insulted Erdogan or other officials on Twitter or Facebook. Turkish law bars insults to public figures....
Meanwhile, Facebook expressed concern about Turkish proposals that would require Internet companies to provide user information to authorities.
That's a laugh when they turn the stuff over to the U.S. government. Maybe the Turks could call the NSA for help.
Erdogan earlier this month branded Twitter a social ‘‘menace’’ for spreading lies after many people turned to the site and Facebook for information. Many Turkish media outlets provided little coverage in the early stages of the demonstrations, likely intimidated into self-censorship by the government’s previously tough approach to journalists.
I feel that way about my newspaper.
Nearly three weeks of protests were sparked by a violent May 31 police crackdown on peaceful activists....
The government has dismissed protesters’ general calls for a more pluralistic society and has blamed the protests on a foreign-led conspiracy involving bankers and the media meant to stop Turkey in its tracks. It has also vowed to go after them.
Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag took aim at the social media users under investigation, claiming that there were many ‘‘profanities and insults conducted electronically’’ that were against the law.
‘‘Crimes determined as such by the law don’t change if they are carried out through Facebook, Twitter, or through other electronic means,’’ Bozdag said. ‘‘No one has the right to commit crimes under the rule of law.’’
Except the government.
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"Police disperse project’s protesters
ISTANBUL — Turkish police fired volleys of tear gas at protesters who tried to enter a cordoned-off park near Istanbul’s landmark Taksim Square on Saturday, hours after the city’s governor warned the demonstration was illegal and participants would be dispersed. A few thousand people converged on the square, with the aim of entering Gezi Park, whose proposed redevelopment sparked anger and
morphed into antigovernment protests in June (AP)."
"Turkey again closes Istanbul park" Associated Press, July 09, 2013
ISTANBUL — An Istanbul park that was at the center of weeks of antigovernment demonstrations opened for a few hours Monday, but Turkish authorities quickly closed it and fired a water cannon, tear gas, and rubber bullets at protesters heading to the area for a planned rally.
The attack — the second by police on protesters since Saturday — occurred on a main pedestrian road leading to Istanbul’s landmark Taksim Square and adjacent Gezi Park.
On Monday afternoon, Governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu declared Gezi Park reopened to the public but warned he would not allow it to become a point for more demonstrations. About three hours later, police asked the public to leave the park and closed it.
An Associated Press journalist at the scene said police used shields to push some laggards out of the park, fired tear gas at a few protesters who struck a police shield, and detained a dozen people. Some protesters were seen hurling stones at a water cannon.
The Istanbul Bar Association said around 30 demonstrators were rounded up, including members of a group opposed to Taksim’s redevelopment who had called Monday’s Gezi protest.
Mutlu said on his Twitter account that the park was shut down again because there were ‘‘many calls to turn Gezi Park into an area of unlawful demonstrations and occupation.’’
Gezi had been cordoned off since June 15, when police forcibly evacuated thousands of protesters who occupied it amid widespread rallies against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.
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