- Title: TURKEY: EU urges Turkey to probe excessive use of police force
- Date: 7th June 2013
- Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (JUNE 7, 2013) (REUTERS) MEDIA TURKISH PRIME MINISTER RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN WALKING TO STAGE JOURNALIST WRITING (SOUNSBITE) (Turkish) TURKISH PRIME MINISTER, RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN SAYING: "If you look at what's happening people who are manipulating those events because of their political agenda are placing themselves to the front of others who are really a
- Embargoed: 22nd June 2013 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: Police,International Relations,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVACBV3IJ0RS50WC2SZCFVT6JJXF
- Story Text: Turkey must investigate whether police used excessive force in a crackdown on days of anti-government demonstrations and hold those responsible to account, European Union enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule said on Friday (June 7).
"Peaceful demonstrations constitute a legitimate way for ... groups to express their views in a democratic society. Excessive use of force by police against these demonstrations has no place in such a democracy," Fule said in a speech at a conference attended by Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.
"I am happy that even the government admitted that. What is important now, is not only to launch a swift and transparent investigation but also to bring those responsible to account."
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan flew back to a Turkey rocked by days of anti-government unrest on Friday and declared before a sea of flag-waving supporters at Istanbul airport: "These protests must end immediately."
At Istanbul's Taksim Square, centre of the protests now occupied by thousands around the clock, some chanted "Tayyip resign" as they watched a broadcast of the address. In the capital Ankara, the Kugulu Park echoed to anti-government slogans, while protesters danced or sang the national anthem.
Western governments including the United States, which sees Turkey as a key NATO ally in the Middle East, bordering Iran, Iraq and Syria, have expressed concern about heavy-handed police action. Washington has projected Turkey under Erdogan as an example of a Muslim democracy that could be emulated by other countries in the region, such as Egypt.
Speaking from an open-topped bus at the airport, his wife at his side, Erdogan acknowledged police might have used excessive force in crushing a small demonstration against a building project last Friday - the action that triggered nationwide protests against his 10-year-old rule.
He gave no indication of any immediate plans to remove the makeshift protest camps that have appeared on Taksim Square and a park in the capital, Ankara. But the gatherings mark a clear challenge to a leader whose authority is built on three successive election victories.
Erdogan has pressed many democratic reforms, taming a military that had toppled four governments in four decades, starting entry talks with the European Union, reining in police rights abuses and forging peace talks with Kurdish rebels to end a three-decades-old war that has cost 40,000 lives.
Per capita income has tripled in nominal terms and business boomed at home and beyond Turkish frontiers.
But in recent years critics say his style, always forceful and emotional, has become authoritarian. Media have come under pressure, and arrests of military and other figures over alleged coup plots as well as moves such as alcohol sale restrictions have unsettled especially secular middle classes sensitive to any encroachment of religion on their daily lives.
Erdogan has made clear he has no intention of stepping aside, pointing to 50 percent of the vote at the last election. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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