Saturday, May 31, 2014

LIVE: Police use tear gas, water cannons on tense Gezi anniversary

Istanbul is on alert on the first anniversary of the massive Gezi protests May 31.

Calls were made for street action in the flashpoint area of Taksim Square, which was the heart of last year’s demonstrations.

But officials signaled that no demonstration would be allowed in Taksim and even in other parts of Istanbul, as the police ordered a sweeping deployment to crush any attempt of protest.


Tensions run high as some 25,000 police officers, 50 water cannon trucks (TOMAs), a large number of armored vehicles, as well as helicopters, are dispatched to prevent any gathering at Taksim Square and its environs.

The Istanbul police canceled all holidays and increased the shifts of officers to 12 hours until a second order. Additional policemen from 11 other provinces were deployed to the city as part of measures against possible protests.

“You will not be able to come to those places like you did last year. Because the police have taken absolute orders, they will do all,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during the opening ceremony of a local municipal building in Istanbul hours before the planned gatherings.

Despite the government's calls, demonstrators gathered in Istanbul and Ankara after a calm morning in both cities. The police started to use tear gas at 7 p.m.
 

 Live updates:....hurriyetdailynews.com
31/5/14
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1 comment:

  1. Türkei ... Tage der Freiheit...

    Es war am Tag sechs der Gezi-Proteste in Istanbul im Juni vergangenen Jahres, als Cem Tüzün auf einen Kleintransporter stieg und mit heiserer Stimme zu den Tausenden sprach, die sich auf dem Taksim-Platz im Zentrum der Stadt versammelt hatten. Es hatte Rangeleien gegeben, Zwist zwischen verschiedenen politischen Gruppen um Symbole, Fahnen, Vorrang. „Leute“, rief er, „wir müssen zusammenhalten und stark bleiben! Wir müssen eine gemeinsame Sprache entwickeln!“ Es war der Tag, als die Aktivisten aus der Taksim-Solidaritätsgruppe ihre Autorität einsetzten, um den Demonstranten eine Richtung zu weisen. Es war der Tag der großen Hoffnungen.......http://www.fr-online.de/tuerkei/tuerkei-tage-der-freiheit,23356680,27303258.html

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