TURKEY: Around a thousand people march across Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge to support anti-government protests

Record ID: 213979

  • Title: TURKEY: Around a thousand people march across Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge to support anti-government protests
  • Date: 1st June 2013
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JUNE 1, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DEBRIS SCATTERED IN STREET AFTER POLICE CLASHED WITH PROTESTERS WATER CANNON ON STREET PEOPLE WALKING ON DAMAGED STREET PEOPLE WALKING PAST DEBRIS POLICE WATER CANNON CLEARING ROAD POLICEMEN ON SITE DEBRIS MAN TAKING PHOTO OF DAMAGE VIEW OF BOSPHORUS CROWD ON BRIDGE VARIOUS OF CROWD CHANTING PAN FROM BOSPHOROUS STRAIT TO CROWD VARIOUS OF CROWD ON BRIDGE CHANTING ANTI-GOVERNMENT SLOGANS
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1WW4E6ZSARD7HYHK2JR05DDA7
  • Story Text: Nearly a thousand people marched across Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge from the Asian side of the city to support the anti-government protests on Saturday (June 1).
    The march came a day after Turkish police fired tear gas and water cannon at demonstrators in central Istanbul, wounding scores of people and prompting rallies in other cities in the fiercest anti-government protests for years.
    Thousands of demonstrators had massed on streets surrounding Istanbul's central Taksim Square, long a venue for political unrest, while protests erupted in the capital Ankara and the Aegean coastal city of Izmir.
    Broken glass and rocks were strewn across a main shopping street near Taksim.
    The unrest reflects growing disquiet at the authoritarianism of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).
    Riot police had clashed with tens of thousands of May Day protesters in Istanbul this month. There have also been protests against the government's stance on the conflict in neighbouring Syria, a tightening of restrictions on alcohol sales and warnings against public displays of affection.
    The protest at Taksim's Gezi Park started late on Monday after trees were torn up under a government redevelopment plan but has widened into a broader demonstration against Erdogan's administration. Friday's violence erupted after a dawn police raid on demonstrators who had been camped out for days.
    Erdogan has overseen a transformation in Turkey during his decade in power, turning its economy from crisis-prone into Europe's fastest-growing. Per capita income has tripled in nominal terms since his party rose to power.
    He remains by far Turkey's most popular politician, and is widely viewed as its most powerful leader since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded the modern secular republic on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire 90 years ago.
    Erdogan is pushing ahead with a slew of multi-billion-dollar projects which he sees as embodying Turkey's emergence as a major power. They include a shipping canal, a giant mosque and a third Istanbul airport billed to be one of the world's biggest.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register