[Carry_Okie]

Looking at the pics of protestors, I see a lot of people waving red flags. In a battle between Islamists and Communists, there’s nobody to root for.

Same as Iran.

[sandboxshooter]

People are tired of the Islamist telling them how to live their lives...this isn’t a bad thing.

[Zajko]

Those are Turkish flags: they happen to be red. I was in Taksim Square on Saturday: this is quite the opposite of Syria, Egypt or Libya. The people out protesting here are absolutely NOT Islamists (and certainly not communists: there are a very small minority of these here, but probably less proportionally than there are in the US), or indeed particularly religious at all. It’s Erdogan’s government which is trying to impose religious law here (banning alcohol sales last week - a deeply unpopular move in Istanbul, as well as trying to alter the constitution to allow himself to remain in office) and the people who are trying to fight back.

In short, this is the opposite of Syria, Egypt or Libya: an Islamist government attempting to impose religious law on a secular population who don’t want it and aren’t interested in it.