Posted on 06/02/2013 10:02:58 AM PDT by Nextrush
Hundreds of protestors have returned to the streets of Istanbul and Ankara after two days of unrest that have seen more than 1,700 arrests.
Largely peaceful protesters waved flags in Istanbul's Taksim Square but there were reports that police had fired tear gas in Kizilay Square.
PM Tayyip Erdogan said protestors were trying to undermine democracy.
The protests began over redeveloping a park near Taksim Square but broadened into anti-government unrest......
Correspondents say many people are fed up with the government which they believe is becoming increasingly authoritarian and trying to take away some of their personal freedoms.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Late word via Twitter is that protestors are gathering outside of state television in Ankara.
Protests in the region seem to start as a way to oppose authoritarian regimes. The “students and intellectuals” talk about how they want more freedom. The West supports the rebels, the rebels are infiltrated by hardline Islamists and Al-Quida who takeover the revolution. The result is an even worse government with less freedom for the people.
You can follow the protests on Twitter at #OccupyGezi.
Lefties rising up against Islamists???????
The current Trukish government is Islamist of the Muslim Brotherhood type democratically elected.
The Prime Minister Erdogan is loved and embraced by Barack Obama.....
First person he called once in office.
Russia has a lot to lose if Turkey goes Sultan. Putin might have some involvement with this Turkish uprising.
Over at LiveLeak.com there are some videos of these confrontations/riots and quite a few comments from Turks. Worth a look.
The current regime in Turkey is bent on re-establishing the Ottoman Empire, and the Caliphate that was its governing agent.
Islam is not a religion, so much as it is an ideology, in many ways similar to International Communism, in that it is transnational, and is essentially anti-capitalistic.
Capitalism, at its core, cannot be separated from individual freedom and the non-interference from government authority. Tyrannical governments do not encourage innovation or initiative, as these things have a way of getting out of hand. The Muslim Brotherhood is simply trying to put that genie back into the bottle, and one must say, they are getting a considerable amount of assistance from The Won in ways both great and small.
My daughter is living in Istyne. They are staying close to home because of the protests. Not taking any chances as the government is freely using teargas.
Well, at least a small bright spot in the otherwise disaster of the Middle East; the Turks protest is at least in part against the increasingly totalitarian, Islamist nature of the Erdogan government.
Looking at them - including a lot of middle class looking matrons who are probably Christians or non-practicing Muslims - they sure don’t all look like Marxists. They’re just scared of the sharia government Obama wants to impose on Turkey.
When the police used tear gas and water cannons against nice normal people who didn't want to see trees bulldozed (thinking they should have some say in the matter) other nice normal people joined to protest the treatment of their fellow citizens.
Now, it's a protest not only against Erdogan's heavy-handed response, but the cronyism and the creeping sharia that has marked his rule.
Agreed. My concern is that a revolution, like others in the region, could end up with something even worse.
I hope these people can hold out. They sure shouldn’t hope that the US will help them, though. I’m ashamed to say that.
I see you’ve been paying attention.
This is the secular, urban, middle classes versus an Islamist, rural and poor, majority, who have some super-wealthy elites backing them with Koran waving.
“The “students and intellectuals” talk about how they want more freedom. The West supports the rebels, the rebels are infiltrated by hardline Islamists and Al-Quida who takeover the revolution. The result is an even worse government with less freedom for the people.”
That may not be the case in Turkey. The Erdogan government IS an Islamist government, and has been slowly instituting Sharia-lite type of “reforms” which are anti-secular society “reforms”.
Having been elected with solid majorities the Erdogan government has become arrogant about its Islamization programs and questions about its authority.
I do not think Islamists are “infiltrating” the students, they are already in the government, the students know that too.
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