Cyprus-Forum.com

[Demonax]

Still ongoing:



Live stream:

http://rt.com/on-air/taksim-square-protest-turkey/

[bill cobbett]

Yes... and again major demos in Istanbul tonight with the usual response from Gasman Erdogan's thugs.

Here's the indymedia summary ...

News from 30.6.2013 (Istanbul Time)
21.04: [Istanbul] Police attacked the crowd in Taksim Square with TOMAs (watercanon). Later on, police pushed the crowd back for a while and then retreated.
20.47: [Istanbul] Taksim Solidarity announced that the demonstration is over. The forums will continue.
20.44: [Istanbul] Taksim Solidarity published a press release. Click here for the press release (in turkish): Press Release
20.16: [Istanbul] The demonstrators chanting "Fascist Tayyip Erdoğan" where the AKP supporters were chanting "Recep Tayyip Erdoğan".
20.06: [Istanbul] People in Taksim Square shouting "Abdullah Cömert...here", "Mehmet Ayvalıtaş...here", "Ethem Sarısülük...here" and "Medeni Yıldırım...here".
20.02: [Istanbul] Police still forbids people to enter Taksim Square. Hundreds of people, who are not in the cortege but are behind police barricades in Taksim Square, are shouting "Police, go sell bagels and live an honorable life".
19.45: [Istanbul] For a while, Police is stopping pedestrians to enter Taksim Square.
19.23: [Istanbul] A group of demonstrators on bikes are touring on the Harbiye entrance of Taksim Square.
19.15: [Istanbul] From Tarlabaşı Boulevard entrance (of Taksim Square) till in front of Hill Hotel there is two rows of riot cops barricading Taksim Square. In front of AKM, Busstops and Cumhuriyet Statue are all empty. Crowd is between Taksim Tram Stop and in front of Hill Hotel. Istiklal Street is very crowded.
19.11: [Istanbul] Tens of thousands of people in Istiklal Street are chanting "Taksim and Lice, shoulder to shoulder".

[Get Real!]

Turkish police attack Kurdish protesters

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/07/01 ... rotesters/

[Tim Drayton]

The administrative court hearing the objection to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's cherished development plan for Gezi Park has ruled AGAINST the plan, i.e. the park stays as it is:

http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/iste_ ... ri-1140248

This is subject to appeal at the Council of State (the supreme court for administrative matters), but in effect the protestors have won as this ruling stands.

I do not believe that the court would have had the temerity to rule against the Erdoğan/Gülen ruling elite had itnot been for these brave protestors, several of whom laid down their lives. This can only be conjecture, of course, and they may still be robbed of final victory

[Kikapu]

I wonder if Erdogan is losing sleep tonight to what happened to his fellow Islamist friend Morsi in Egypt. No wonder he hasn't gone onto to his well bragged Gaza trip. Perhaps he thinks he won't be allowed back into the country if he leaves.

Events in Egypt has to be a great concern to Erdogan, that once people take to the streets in great numbers, as the case has been in Turkey also, he cannot rule as a dictator and still expect to remain in power. Morsi lost everything in just 48 hours. How long will it take before Erdogan loses everything also?

[bill cobbett]

This Court ruling is all a bit curious, according to this BBC report, apparently it was made on the 8th June but has only been made public today...

First few sentences...

..."A Turkish court has ruled against an Istanbul construction project that triggered nationwide unrest, it has been revealed.

The plan to redevelop Taksim Square was blocked by the court in a ruling made on 8 June - as anti-government protests raged.

It is unclear why the ruling has only now been released.

The Taksim Square issue served as a lightning rod for a far wider range of protesters' grievances.

Mass protests began in late May and continued for much of June..."

Rest at ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23169879

[Demonax]

I wonder if Erdogan is losing sleep tonight to what happened to his fellow Islamist friend Morsi in Egypt. No wonder he hasn't gone onto to his well bragged Gaza trip. Perhaps he thinks he won't be allowed back into the country if he leaves.

Events in Egypt has to be a great concern to Erdogan, that once people take to the streets in great numbers, as the case has been in Turkey also, he cannot rule as a dictator and still expect to remain in power. Morsi lost everything in just 48 hours. How long will it take before Erdogan loses everything also?

Yes, Erdogan's nightmare scenario is unfolding.

http://blogs.wsj.com/middleeast/2013/07 ... -stumbles/

Wonder if the Turkish media are covering it or if they are showing documentaries about penguins again?

[Tim Drayton]

I wonder if Erdogan is losing sleep tonight to what happened to his fellow Islamist friend Morsi in Egypt. No wonder he hasn't gone onto to his well bragged Gaza trip. Perhaps he thinks he won't be allowed back into the country if he leaves.

Events in Egypt has to be a great concern to Erdogan, that once people take to the streets in great numbers, as the case has been in Turkey also, he cannot rule as a dictator and still expect to remain in power. Morsi lost everything in just 48 hours. How long will it take before Erdogan loses everything also?

I think there are very strong parallels, and I think this is because both sets of events are part of the same mega trend in history (of course, as we speak, Morsi has gone). Erdoğan was a very astute politician for a long time, but I think he and Morsi have fallen victim to the same delusion. Both are backed by about 50% of the electorate and that makes them think they have the unwavering support of 50%, when in fact they came to power under electoral alliances and, at most, only 25% support their core hard-line Islamist agenda.

A lot of very nasty things are going on, though, in Turkey, like the way eye witnesses to the killing by a policeman of protester Ethem Sarısülük who have come forward to testify have now themselves been arrested and jailed, while the actual killer has for the time walked free. Unless there is a new wave of protest, Erdoğan may succeed in stifling all resistance and eventually manage to become a Putin-like dictator.

[Tim Drayton]

This Court ruling is all a bit curious, according to this BBC report, apparently it was made on the 8th June but has only been made public today...

First few sentences...

..."A Turkish court has ruled against an Istanbul construction project that triggered nationwide unrest, it has been revealed.

The plan to redevelop Taksim Square was blocked by the court in a ruling made on 8 June - as anti-government protests raged.

It is unclear why the ruling has only now been released.

The Taksim Square issue served as a lightning rod for a far wider range of protesters' grievances.

Mass protests began in late May and continued for much of June..."

Rest at ... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-23169879

The BBC is not what it once was. The decision is actually dated 6 June, but, as you say, it is puzzling as to why it was not announced earlier - it could well have defused a lot of the protest, one would think.

[B25]

Tim, it was probably kept quiet so that Erdogan could crush the protesters himself. Otherwise he would lose face and would not be the almighty he thinks he is.

This begs the question, how was it possible to keep the decision quiet? No protesters about, no one heard of it? Strange, very strange as you would think it would have been ammo for the protesters, no??