Turkish PM: Protesters in League With Terrorists

Insists 'Turkish Spring' Would Be Impossible

As nationwide protests moved into their fourth day, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan angrily condemned the demonstrators as “extremists,” insisting that they were “walking arm-in-arm with terrorists” and that his government would never give them any concessions.

The protests are showing a remarkably broad spectrum of representation, with seemingly every opposition faction and interest group having a rally of their own somewhere across the nation.

Police continue to crack down on the demonstrators, with hundreds of additional people reported wounded today and unknown numbers of additional detainees. The Public Workers Union (KESK) has announced a two-day strike beginning Tuesday to protest the crackdown.

Erdogan went on to insist that a “Turkish Spring” was impossible because Turkey is a “multi-party system.” Of course, the highest-profile Arab Spring protests were in single party states, but several “multi-party” states, such as Bahrain, also saw massive protests.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.