TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan urges Turks not to be drawn into violent protests

Record ID: 217651

  • Title: TURKEY: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan urges Turks not to be drawn into violent protests
  • Date: 7th June 2013
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JUNE 7, 2013) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) VARIOUS OF ERDOGAN ARRIVING AT BUS / SUPPORTERS CLAPPING SUPPORTERS CHEERING/ WAVING FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN SAYING: "We can't allow anyone to behave in an unlawfull way in this country, to destruct by vandalising., to destroy cities private property and hurt our people
  • Embargoed: 22nd June 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABK5XHJFI11WUC1X7TL7D1TGWW
  • Story Text: Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan called on Turks on Friday (June 7) to distance themselves from "lawless protests" and said accusations of the excessive use of police force during days of unrest were being investigated.
    Addressing thousands of supporters at Istanbul airport after returning from a trip to North Africa, Erdogan said the protesters had looted shops and damaged businesses and urged his supporters not to be drawn into the violence.
    "We can't allow anyone to behave in an unlawfull way in this country, to destruct by vandalising, to destroy cities private property and hurt our people," Erdogan told tens of thousands of his ruling party faithful.
    Erdogan addressed crowds from an open-top bus at Istanbul airport in a speech also broadcast live on television, as supporters, who had blocked roads to the airport for hours, chanted his name.
    "For the past ten days we did not give up behaving in a calm way and with common sense. From here we are going to go back to our houses and we will never let our calmness, our common sense and our discipline to fade away," he added, as the crowds chanted "let us go and destroy Taksim".
    Anti-government protesters also gathered in their thousands in central Istanbul and Ankara awaiting a speech that could appease or aggravate the crowds after a week of violent unrest.
    Some of the demonstrators in Istanbul's Taksim Square chanted "Tayyip resign", while others sang and danced. In Ankara's Kugulu Park, thousands chanted anti-government slogans, sang the national anthem and swigged on beer.
    What began as a campaign against planned construction on a leafy park in a corner of Taksim Square has grown into an unprecedented display of public anger over the perceived authoritarianism of Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted AK Party.
    Police backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters have clashed with groups of protesters night after night, leaving three dead and some 4,000 injured, while thousands of Erdogan's opponents have massed peacefully in Taksim, surrounded by barricades of torn-up paving stones and street signs.
    Erdogan has so far struck a defiant tone. Speaking in Tunis on Thursday, he condemned the "burn and destroy" tactics of some of those involved in the protests, and promised to press ahead with the plans for Taksim that triggered the unrest.
    He said that "terror groups", including one that claimed responsibility for a Feb. 1 bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, were manipulating the crowds. Seven foreigners were among those arrested, he said.
    The protesters are of a variety of political stripes, including far leftists, nationalists, environmentalists and secular Turks, and their numbers at Taksim have swollen at points to more than an estimated 100,000.
    But despite the unrest, Erdogan remains by far Turkey's most popular politician, his assertive style and common touch resonating with the conservative Islamic heartland.
    One supporter said the government had shown its patience towatfs recent protests.
    "The events taking place recently have been organised by some provocateours. Everybody knows the reason is not a tree. The world saw this. And this event shifted from being environmentalist protest into a provoking event. So we showed our patience," said an Erdogan supporter at the airport.
    Erdogan's AK Party has won an increasing share of the vote in three successive elections and holds around two thirds of the seats in parliament. A man who rarely bows to any opposition, he clearly has no intention of stepping down and there are no obvious rivals inside or outside his party.
    Still, he faces a challenge in calming the protests without appearing to lose face.
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