TURKEY: As the fiercest anti-government protests in Turkey in years rage on, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan appeals for an immediate cessation

Record ID: 217638

  • Title: TURKEY: As the fiercest anti-government protests in Turkey in years rage on, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan appeals for an immediate cessation
  • Date: 1st June 2013
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JUNE 1, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BALACLAVA-WEARING PROTESTERS RUNNING AWAY AS TEAR GAS IS FIRED
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAD05II90P880GP7YYD65L7YSJ3
  • Story Text: Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called for an immediate end on Saturday (June 1) to the fiercest anti-government demonstrations for years, as protesters clashed with riot police in Istanbul for a second day.
    Erdogan vowed to push ahead with the redevelopment of the city's central Taksim Square, a plan which triggered the demonstrations, and said the issue was being used as an excuse to stoke tensions.
    Police fired teargas and water cannon to prevent crowds of protesters chanting "unite against fascism" and "government resign" from reaching Taksim, where hundreds were injured in clashes on Friday (May 31).
    Protesters also clashed with police in the Besiktas neighbourhood after walking across a road bridge over the Bosphorus in another apparent attempt to reach the square.
    "Every four years we hold elections and this nation makes its choice," Erdogan said in a speech handed out by the prime minister's office.
    "I am asking the protesters to immediately end these actions," he said.
    The protest at Taksim's Gezi Park started late on Monday (May 27) after trees were torn up under the redevelopment plan, but has widened into a broader demonstration against Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP).
    Erdogan has overseen a transformation in Turkey during his decade in power, turning its economy from crisis-prone into Europe's fastest-growing, and remains by far the country's most popular politician.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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