Demonstrators retreated from an Istanbul square yesterday after a night of running battles with riot police as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan moved to crush mass demonstrations against his Islamic-rooted government.
By midday, hundreds of officers armed with riot shields and backed by water cannon trucks lined up along the eastern side of the Taksim Square. Just a stone’s throw away, weary demonstrators huddled in Gezi Park.
Small crowds, mainly commuters and curious passers-by, milled around the area after a large cleanup operation removed all evidence of the unrest, clearing the square of stray tear gas canisters, anti-Erdogan banners and makeshift barricades.
The prime minister was to hold talks with some protest leaders yesterday, but many protesters said the unexpected crackdown on Taksim Square, which had seen no police presence since June 1, had made them lose faith in any dialogue.
“We don’t accept it,” said Anessa, a 29-year-old photographer, complaining that the government had cherry-picked the groups invited to the meeting.
Walking around a subdued Gezi Park in the rain, she said the violence only made protesters more determined.
“We are not afraid. We are very angry and we will not stop,” she said.
The nationwide unrest first erupted after police on May 31 cracked down heavily on a campaign to save the park from redevelopment, spiraling into mass displays of anger against Erdogan.
Four people, including a policeman, have died in the unrest. Nearly 5,000 demonstrators have been injured.
Erdogan, seen as increasingly authoritarian, has taken a tough line on the demonstrators, many of them young and middle-class. On Tuesday, he warned his patience had run out.
“We won’t show any more tolerance,” he told cheering lawmakers of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in a speech broadcast live on television.
Hours later, Taksim Square resembled a battle scene, with police firing volleys of tear gas to disperse tens of thousands chanting “Erdogan, resign,” and “Resistance.”
Cat-and-mouse games continued into the night, with police firing gas, jets of water and rubber bullets at demonstrators, who hurled back fireworks, bottles and Molotov cocktails.
The capital, Ankara, also saw renewed clashes overnight as riot police used gas, pepper spray and water cannon against thousands of protesters near the US embassy. Some threw rocks in response.
While expectations were low for a quick resolution to the conflict, Turkish President Abdullah Gul yesterday said Erdogan’s meeting with demonstrators was a sign of the country’s “democratic maturity.”
“People take to the streets here like in the most developed countries in Europe,” he said, adding that he was confident Turkey would “overcome the trouble.”
Police did not intervene in Gezi Park overnight, where volunteers offered first aid to victims of the clashes, though many protesters abandoned their tents to escape wafts of tear gas drifting in from Taksim Square.
“This was one of the biggest events in Turkey,” law student Fulya Dagli, 21, said about the overnight clashes as she handed out breakfast in the park. “People are learning not to be scared of the government. That’s something we gained and can’t give up again.”
Turkey is a key strategic partner in the region for the US and other Western allies. Many of them have criticized Erdogan’s handling of the crisis.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle yesterday said the images of demonstrators being chased down by riot police were “disturbing.”
“The Turkish government is sending the wrong message to the country and to Europe,” Westerwelle said, adding that Ankara must do “all in its power” to protect democratic rights.
Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said the unrest was “the first serious test” for Turkey in its long-time bid to join the EU.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique