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Violence And Protests In Istanbul, Turkey

Helene Imperiale |
June 1, 2013 | 1:23 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

Over 100,000 protesters gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, making Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan withdraw riot police. However, police continued to use tear gas and high-pressure water to force protesters out of the square.

The prime minister stated that the protestors are “a minority” and asked them to stop. He went on to state that, "Don't compete with us.... If you gather 200,000 people, I can gather a million.... This event has been escalated beyond the park and become ideological." These comments are infuriated the protesters even more.

The protests are stemmed from a campaign to protect Gezi Park at Taksim Square, however, the government wants to build a multipurpose building, similar to the historic Ottoman barracks.

Smaller anti-government demonstrations also took place in Izmir and the capital city of Ankara. The protesters are extremely diverse people of different political views and ages.

Although these protests against the government are drawing large crowds, Erdogan still remains popular after winning the last three election because he has promoted economic growth and political for the country.

As tension has been growing over the last few days, broken glass, garbage and destroyed police vehicles. After Friday nights protests, around 1,000 were injured. According to the Wall Street Journal, “doctors and nurses [have set up] makeshift first-aid coordination center [near] Taksim Square.” 

 

Reach Executive Producer Helene Imperiale here. Follow her here.



 

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