http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/06/2013610232628232230.html
Turkey's PM to meet protest leaders | ||
Erdogan's deputy announces first concession since onset of unrest amid protests in Istanbul and Ankara for 11th night.
Last Modified: 10 Jun 2013 23:59
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Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from Ankara on the apolitical character of the Occupy Gezi movement
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| In his first apparent concession since the deadly unrest began nearly two weeks ago, Turkey's prime minister has agreed to meet protest leaders whose mass anti-government demonstrations have rocked the country. Recep Tayyip Erdogan's overture was announced on Monday even as thousands again took to the streets of Istanbul, Turkey's biggest city, and the capital Ankara, defying his threat that they would "pay a price" for the ongoing unrest - the biggest challenge yet to his Islamic-rooted government's decade-long rule. "Our prime minister has given an appointment to some of the groups leading these protests," Bulent Arinc, Turkey's deputy prime minister, said, adding that the talks would take place on Wednesday.
Arinc made the statement in Ankara after a six-hour cabinet meeting on the crisis. Despite the conciliatory gesture, he said: "Illegal demonstrations will not be allowed anymore in Turkey." However, as night fell riot police were firing tear gas in the affluent Tunali Hilmi street of Ankara to disperse hundreds of protesters, according to AFP news agency. Restaurant owners were forced to shut themselves in with their clients to escape the gas, on the third consecutive night of clashes between protesters and police in the city. Most of the demonstrators fled after being charged by the police. After a weekend of record crowds of tens of thousands in Istanbul's Taksim Square, the epicentre of the unrest, protesters packed the music-filled, flag-festooned area and nearby Gezi Park for an 11th night on Monday. Defiant response Erdogan, 59, has so far responded with defiance, inflaming tensions further on Sunday by staging his own rallies, firing up AK Party supporter with combative rhetoric. "Those who do not respect this nation's party in power will pay a price," he told thousands of cheering party faithful in Ankara, as just a few miles away riot police doused thousands with tear gas and water. The unrest first erupted after police cracked down heavily on a campaign to save Istanbul's Gezi Park from demolition on May 31. The trouble escalated into nationwide displays of anger against Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, seen by their opponents as increasingly authoritarian. Nearly 5,000 demonstrators, scores of whom are young and middle-class, have been injured and three people have died. The national doctors' union says the dead include two protesters and a policeman, while almost 4,800 people have been injured. Erdogan said on Sunday that over 600 police officers had been hurt. Opponents accuse Erdogan of repressing critics - including journalists, minority Kurds and the military - and of pushing conservative Islamic values on the mainly Muslim but staunchly secular nation. But Erdogan is also considered the most influential leader since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey, and remains the country's favourite politician. His AKP has won three elections in a row and took nearly half the vote in the 2011 elections, having presided over strong economic growth. Secure in his popularity, he urged loyalists on Sunday to respond to the demonstrators by voting for the AKP in local polls next year. "I want you to teach them a first lesson through democratic means at the ballot box," he said. Turkey will see both local and presidential elections in 2014. The AKP plans to launch its first campaign rallies in Ankara and Istanbul next weekend, expected to bring tens of thousands into the streets. A general election is scheduled for 2015, and officials have ruled out any suggestion of calling early polls in view of the crisis. | ||
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/nationwide-gezi-park-protests-in-turkey-see-police-intervention-overnight.aspx?pageID=238&nID=48529&NewsCatID=341
Nationwide Gezi Park protests in Turkey see police intervention overnight
Protesters supporting the ongoing Gezi Park demonstrations were subjected to police attacks overnight in various cities. AA photo
Ankara crowds again suffered a harsh police barrage, with officers using TOMA water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters that had gathered at the city’s Kızılay Square. Demonstrators had to flee to side streets as police forces attempted to empty the square.
Police also moved on the capital’s Kuğulu Park in the early hours of today to dismantle tents that had been erected in solidarity with the action continuing in Taksim Gezi Park. Despite initial opposition, subsequent reports said the officers had succeeded in taking down the tents in the park. Protesters in Adana also faced police attacks when they attempted to march toward Akkapı district in order to join another demonstrating group that had been subjected to violent behavior from a group of Justice and Development Party (AKP) supporters the night before.
Police denied permission to the group to march and called on the protesters to disperse. When the group refused, police intervened with TOMAs and tear gas, following protesters down to the end of Çakmak Street to completely disband the crowd.
Protests in Edirne and İzmir also gathered thousands in support of the Gezi Park demonstrations, with over 2,000 protesters marching in Edirne and 10,000 in İzmir. There was brief tension in İzmir stemming from opposing groups, but the problem was quickly resolved.
June/10/2013
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/twitter-lies-deadlier-than-car-bombs-ruling-party-official.aspx?pageID=238&nID=48567&NewsCatID=341
Twitter lies deadlier than car bombs: Ruling party official
Rocked by the intensity of the protests that have swept Turkey, the AKP vows to begin censoring Twitter in an effort to stop what it terms ‘slander’
‘Social media must be brought under order. A draft law could be considered,’ Ali Şahin, the AKP’s vice press head, has said. DHA photo
Göksel Bozkurtgoksel.bozkurt@hurriyet.com.trAfter Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called Twitter a “plague,” the government has moved to bring certain legal regulations to the use of social media. Following the snowballing impact it engendered in organizing the Gezi Park protests, Erdoğan is reportedly considering precautions to take, as discussed during an emergency meeting of the Central Decision and Executive Council (MKYK) of the AKP on June 8.
The AKP’s vice chairman of media and public relations responsible for social media, Ali Şahin, hinted at a “legal regulation” to “set social media in order.” “Social media must be brought under order and regularity ... A legal regulation could be made. People must be held responsible for the content they write. If as a result of a tweet they write, people loot shops and burn vehicles, the one who wrote it must bear its costs,” Şahin told the Hürriyet Daily News yesterday.
Intention to topple gov’t through social media
Şahin said people’s personal rights, legal personalities of companies and public institutions were being attacked while commercial activities were harmed due to news spreading on social media. “The elected government is being conspired against, there is an intention to topple the government through social media and people are being sworn at. All these things should have a cost, a sanction. Cursing at people is not freedom. As someone responsible for social media, I am in preparations in this sense. Social media must be brought under order and regularity. Such a draft law can be considered,” Şahin added.
Yalçın Akdoğan, an AKP deputy and a senior adviser to Erdoğan has said that there is a conspiracy behind the Gezi Park unrest directly aiming at the government.
“We will not sacrifice the prime minister,” Akdoğan said, portraying the government’s resistance to calls coming from the Gezi Park as a matter of life and death. “A tweet containing lies and slander is much more dangerous that a vehicle loaded with a bomb. The explosion of a vehicle loaded with a bomb would be limited, but a tweet filled with lies and slander can lead to a climate of conflict. If the situation is serious, necessary precautions must be taken,” Şahin said.
“If we are really to use social media, it should not be used to chafe someone, to produce false campaigns, to conspire or to topple a government.”
According to a decision made at the June 8 MKYK meeting, the AKP intends to “synchronize” its local elections campaign with its maneuvers concerning the Gezi Park unrest. The local elections, the first of a series of looming elections, are scheduled to be held on March 30, 2014.
Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç and AKP Deputy Chair Hüseyin Çelik will seek to get in touch with protesters at Gezi Park. Interior Minister Muammer Güler is expected to meet with sociologists to draft “a process analysis” to introduce to Erdoğan.
'Spike in use slowed Internet'
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Access has been intermittent since the clashes began between protesters and Turkish police. This has caused many to believe that the officials are preventing communication among protesters.
Yıldırım also said it should be investigated whether the social media was used in provocating people or not.
June/11/2013
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