It all started with a small peaceful protest in Istanbul about the demolition of Taksim Square's last green space. The city had been losing parks at a record rate under the AKP, starting with the famous de-treeing of Istiklal street itself, and people believed that this was enough. The police used such brutality that people decided to organise protests supporting those at the park in Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, and Antalya to name a few places. These protests soon became anti-government and anti-police protests.
The centre of Ankara was a war zone yesterday. The police attempted to break up the protests with gas but as people acclimatized to the gas the protests got larger and larger. The crowds grew rapidly and the police began to get more violent in response. In Ankara protesters would run as close to the Kizilay Square (the centre of Ankara and the site of the Prime Ministry) get attacked by the police, and flee to the Tunali area to regroup.
People drove around the Kecioren district, where the Prime Minister lives, and honked their horns late into the night.
A huge group formed on Bestekar on the outskirts of the centre and began to march on the Square. They were brutally crushed by a combination of water cannon armed armoured trucks and gas launchers. The police, as can be seen in a series of videos, aimed directly at civilians injuring many of them severely.
Running skirmishes with armoured water cannon trucks spilled unto the bar street in Ankara and the police started to attack the bars directly with tear gas and water cannons. People attacked the trucks with bottles, agitating an already violent truck operator. We had to drag some people into the building as they were overcome by the fumes. A few street vendors tried to protect their vehicles from the rampaging water tanks and were injured.
The police, through loudhailers on their trucks, demanded that people stop filming and attempted to take out several people with cameras or phones. They destroyed the street near the embassy district; running over some poor kid who couldn't get out of the way fast enough.
That was the first day. I barely got home. We got sprayed on the way back. People hanging white towels from their balconies provided first aid and water. The protests were still going on when I went to sleep around 0500
Istanbul was worse. They trapped enormous crowds of people with tear gas and hosed them down, then flew helicopters over them firing down tear canisters. The police, according to some unconfirmed reports, began using real bullets instead of rubber bullets. The badly injured were in the hundreds and included a number of parliamentarians.
The media has been hobbled in Turkey as the government indirectly owns or controls much of it so none of these reports could be validated or invalidated . The use of gas, Agent Orange, water cannon, kettling (a police technique), and rubber bullets (you never forget how they sound) was confirmed.
These protests both cities lasted until early into the morning when many of the protesters, exhausted, retired to rest and regroup. The planned time for the protest the next day was 1600 yet crowds in both cities showed up early.
The police had withdrawn initially in Istanbul and the prime minister claimed he would let them march. Yet it was, as melodramatic as this sounds, a trap. Crowds assembled at the park and a larger group planned to march from Besiktas. The police swooped down on the crowd with more brutality then before, using rubber bullets and a derivative of the Vietnam era deforestation chemical Agent Orange. It is incredibly toxic and forbidden by the UN after the horrific effects it had on both the Vietnamese and Americans exposed to it.
The police cleared Besiktas in a hurry, heavily injuring hundreds of protesters. I have reliable eye witnesses in Istanbul that claim there are no civilians on the ground and only police right now.
Ankara protesters' plan was to meet up at 1600 and march upon the Prime Ministry. Police were even more brutal than the day before, setting up barricades and sallying forth yet thankfully, as far as I've experienced today, they've only used civilian tear gas instead of the militarised version.. Finding their way blocked protesters attempted to go to Kizilay instead with predictable results. The police, faced with at least 20,000 protesters called in the gendarme and built barricades around the Prime Ministry. People showed up in their cars, driving through the city and honking the entire way. I decided to take a look and had trouble getting back; lots of running, dodging and thanking the gods that I left my phone at home, allowing me to climb things without worrying too much and escape the psychotic police force.
Unsubstantiated reports state that the police in front of the Prime Ministry and in Besiktas have “gun free” orders; or have permission to shoot anyone who passes their barricades.
My street has been tear gassed at least 4 times directly and indirectly today. The internet has been on and off and slowed down immensely. Just enough to inconvenience anyone who wished to upload photos or write on their blogs. The official response of the sole internet provider in the country, TurkTelekom, when I called them today to inquire was that Facebook use has skyrocketed and as a result it might go down once and a while. And the government then took down the internet for real. I'm getting 3 or 4 kbs every hour for around a minute and for the other 59 minutes I have nothing.
As for the results; The interior ministry has promised an internal inquiry, but it is clear to anyone familiar with Turkish domestic policy that this is a smokescreen for the government to hide behind, they'll throw some low level commissioners to the wolves and pretend they acted without orders. This, along with the goldfish-like memory of the Turkish electorate, will probably end up making this an interesting footnote in Turkish history. I'm a pessimist. The Prime Minister has called out the protesters as a result of the damage done and the attacks on police officers; yet the initial attackers in many of the protests have been identified as governmental provocateurs. They have been seen systematically setting cars on fire far behind protest lines; plain clothes policemen that, as this is Turkey, are rather easy to spot. The administrative courts have struck down the project, but the Prime Minister has said it doesn't matter. This will set up an interesting case of government vs judiciary for later.
Over a thousand police officials have resigned as a result. The military has been handing out gas masks to civilians and there is a video of then getting into verbal arguments with the police. Although the gendarme look as if they are in with the government the majority of the military look as if they're going to sit this one out while quietly supporting the protests.
The chanting still hasn't died down yet a miasma of tear gas and smoke from the burning vehicles remains. I'm getting gassed at home as I write this for the 5th time. I'm happy I'm rather resilient when it comes to getting gassed yet at the same time I don't understand why I should have to be. I can hear the malevolent whine of water cannons charging up, the threatening thumps of tear gas canisters being launched, the deep roar of TOMA trucks, and the screaming and chanting of protesters being attacked. A crash every once and a while as the trucks hit something large. Things are not looking up.
The centre of Ankara was a war zone yesterday. The police attempted to break up the protests with gas but as people acclimatized to the gas the protests got larger and larger. The crowds grew rapidly and the police began to get more violent in response. In Ankara protesters would run as close to the Kizilay Square (the centre of Ankara and the site of the Prime Ministry) get attacked by the police, and flee to the Tunali area to regroup.
People drove around the Kecioren district, where the Prime Minister lives, and honked their horns late into the night.
A huge group formed on Bestekar on the outskirts of the centre and began to march on the Square. They were brutally crushed by a combination of water cannon armed armoured trucks and gas launchers. The police, as can be seen in a series of videos, aimed directly at civilians injuring many of them severely.
Running skirmishes with armoured water cannon trucks spilled unto the bar street in Ankara and the police started to attack the bars directly with tear gas and water cannons. People attacked the trucks with bottles, agitating an already violent truck operator. We had to drag some people into the building as they were overcome by the fumes. A few street vendors tried to protect their vehicles from the rampaging water tanks and were injured.
The police, through loudhailers on their trucks, demanded that people stop filming and attempted to take out several people with cameras or phones. They destroyed the street near the embassy district; running over some poor kid who couldn't get out of the way fast enough.
That was the first day. I barely got home. We got sprayed on the way back. People hanging white towels from their balconies provided first aid and water. The protests were still going on when I went to sleep around 0500
Istanbul was worse. They trapped enormous crowds of people with tear gas and hosed them down, then flew helicopters over them firing down tear canisters. The police, according to some unconfirmed reports, began using real bullets instead of rubber bullets. The badly injured were in the hundreds and included a number of parliamentarians.
The media has been hobbled in Turkey as the government indirectly owns or controls much of it so none of these reports could be validated or invalidated . The use of gas, Agent Orange, water cannon, kettling (a police technique), and rubber bullets (you never forget how they sound) was confirmed.
These protests both cities lasted until early into the morning when many of the protesters, exhausted, retired to rest and regroup. The planned time for the protest the next day was 1600 yet crowds in both cities showed up early.
The police had withdrawn initially in Istanbul and the prime minister claimed he would let them march. Yet it was, as melodramatic as this sounds, a trap. Crowds assembled at the park and a larger group planned to march from Besiktas. The police swooped down on the crowd with more brutality then before, using rubber bullets and a derivative of the Vietnam era deforestation chemical Agent Orange. It is incredibly toxic and forbidden by the UN after the horrific effects it had on both the Vietnamese and Americans exposed to it.
The police cleared Besiktas in a hurry, heavily injuring hundreds of protesters. I have reliable eye witnesses in Istanbul that claim there are no civilians on the ground and only police right now.
Ankara protesters' plan was to meet up at 1600 and march upon the Prime Ministry. Police were even more brutal than the day before, setting up barricades and sallying forth yet thankfully, as far as I've experienced today, they've only used civilian tear gas instead of the militarised version.. Finding their way blocked protesters attempted to go to Kizilay instead with predictable results. The police, faced with at least 20,000 protesters called in the gendarme and built barricades around the Prime Ministry. People showed up in their cars, driving through the city and honking the entire way. I decided to take a look and had trouble getting back; lots of running, dodging and thanking the gods that I left my phone at home, allowing me to climb things without worrying too much and escape the psychotic police force.
Unsubstantiated reports state that the police in front of the Prime Ministry and in Besiktas have “gun free” orders; or have permission to shoot anyone who passes their barricades.
My street has been tear gassed at least 4 times directly and indirectly today. The internet has been on and off and slowed down immensely. Just enough to inconvenience anyone who wished to upload photos or write on their blogs. The official response of the sole internet provider in the country, TurkTelekom, when I called them today to inquire was that Facebook use has skyrocketed and as a result it might go down once and a while. And the government then took down the internet for real. I'm getting 3 or 4 kbs every hour for around a minute and for the other 59 minutes I have nothing.
As for the results; The interior ministry has promised an internal inquiry, but it is clear to anyone familiar with Turkish domestic policy that this is a smokescreen for the government to hide behind, they'll throw some low level commissioners to the wolves and pretend they acted without orders. This, along with the goldfish-like memory of the Turkish electorate, will probably end up making this an interesting footnote in Turkish history. I'm a pessimist. The Prime Minister has called out the protesters as a result of the damage done and the attacks on police officers; yet the initial attackers in many of the protests have been identified as governmental provocateurs. They have been seen systematically setting cars on fire far behind protest lines; plain clothes policemen that, as this is Turkey, are rather easy to spot. The administrative courts have struck down the project, but the Prime Minister has said it doesn't matter. This will set up an interesting case of government vs judiciary for later.
Over a thousand police officials have resigned as a result. The military has been handing out gas masks to civilians and there is a video of then getting into verbal arguments with the police. Although the gendarme look as if they are in with the government the majority of the military look as if they're going to sit this one out while quietly supporting the protests.
The chanting still hasn't died down yet a miasma of tear gas and smoke from the burning vehicles remains. I'm getting gassed at home as I write this for the 5th time. I'm happy I'm rather resilient when it comes to getting gassed yet at the same time I don't understand why I should have to be. I can hear the malevolent whine of water cannons charging up, the threatening thumps of tear gas canisters being launched, the deep roar of TOMA trucks, and the screaming and chanting of protesters being attacked. A crash every once and a while as the trucks hit something large. Things are not looking up.
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