Protests continue to grow in Turkey, with a third day of rallies seeing tens of thousands of people attending at least 90 separate rallies in the nation’s four largest cities, and 235 rallies nationwide. Security forces are responding with violent crackdowns.
By the end of Sunday there are more than 1,700 people estimated to have been detained, with somewhere around 1,000 people suffering assorted injuries in Istanbul alone after police turned to water cannons and plastic bullets in attempts to disperse crowds.
So far the indications are that the crackdowns are wholly ineffective, with demonstrators simply refusing orders to disperse and many, particularly in Istanbul, declaring “victory” over the government’s attempts to kick them out of Taksim Square.
What started as a simple protest over the destruction of a small park now seems to have galvanized myriad opposition voices across the spectrum, with seemingly everyone that had an axe to grind against the Erdogan government finding an outlet of expression in some rally or other.
Meanwhile, the Erdogan government appears to have no real answers, with Erdogan railing against Twitter as a “danger to society” and police trying and failing with increasingly aggressive tactics.
I've never seen anything like it: thousands of night-sticks are beating unarmed 'peaceful protesters' senseless. Rubber bullets and canisters of tear gas are flying everywhere… High pressure water cannons have been turned on the ‘peaceful protesters’, mowing them down like plastic ducks at a carnival, instead of putting out the hundreds of street fires which are burning hotter than the 7th circle of hell… Peaceful protesters are lying on the ground and bleeding all over the g-damn place… There are already reports of death, and this is just day 2….and these "peaceful protesters" are really 'unarmed' (unlike some 'other' places we know), and all this started over a harmless "peaceful protest" against Dictator Erdogan's desire to uproot a few trees?!?! He refused to 'listen' and cracked down on the ‘peaceful protesters’ like this over a few trees??? This is barbaric! It's like an apocalyptic nightmarish version of 1960s Alabama reincarnate on a global scale, only without the police attack dogs…
E-mail Aljazeera! Call John Kerry and Chuck Hagel! Contact the 'Arab League'! Get Ban Ki-Moon on the phone!!! Immediately being proceedings to expel Turkey from NATO… Send in the mercenary terrorists, weapons, drones, sorties, cruise, tomahawk, and patriot missiles. Create the initial "opposition" in London and Paris. It's time to oust the Mad Tyrannical Dictator Erdogan, as his brutality clearly knows no bounds…
This is the big one people: THE TURKISH SPRING HAS ARRIVED!!!
great parody!
Now for something completely different…
newsflash from the desk of Obama:
as the protests in Turkey continue…is there a call for something akin to Polish Solidarity, flash-mobs on Orange Revo/Ukraine…or the "Green" Revo support in Iran, Libyan or Tunisian support? Syria maybe. …?
Obama must support the protests in Turkey and call for Erdogan to step down, OR, be labeled the fraud we all know him to be!
Instead expect a 'teachable moment' and silence.
You're not suggesting that President Obama is a fool and a failure, are you!
Can you hear a drone circling overhead?
Turkey also has very importan t cultural and linguistic links with several of the Central Asian "Stans". If any of them have been moving toward a flashpoint, this could be a very direct trigger. That would be the larger possible "Turkish Spring".
The act of a total police state is ruling in Turkey, not because of that taksim squar project.., but because the Turkish people's freedom is at stake.., the Turkish government is a totalitarian regime or willing to become.., that is their last resort.., a total dictatorship.. as Saudi Arabia and entire UAE.., where they get their orders.., timing for such political move by the Turkish government couldn't have come at any other time.., they are losing the support of the Turkish people.., the Turkish government is not committed to democracy.., non of such regimes are.., the Turkish government involvment in Syria following the EU and USA orders are the reason for turkish people uprising.., for such undemocratic government the only thing left is to show its real face…, using force and their last chance to start their social dictatorship policy by informing it via their police force and later changing the laws.., limiting the peoples freedom.., as the Turkish government wants to do. We said that before.., the first phase in Neo fascism was introduced to the people some years ago.., we have entered the second phase of the idea using the last political resort of vulture capitalism…., religion.
Turkey is a democracy with an elected leader, has been a stalwart ally of the United States, is a member of NATO, and a vital friend of the United States. The government there is doing nothing different than any other democracy would do to restore order against hooligans, thugs, and if it continues, infiltration by terrorists.
"Careful with that axe Eugene" –
Twitter and "social media", spring and its "allergies". A two edged sword. Handle with care.
Watch out, those are YOUR fingers!
(Watch the end of the clip: "-What's this film you've been woking on? -Hahaha, you ought to know, you're the director.")