Cyprus-Forum.com

[Tim Drayton]

Just sent the following to the British Foreign Office. I don't expect a reply, but simply want to record the fact:

Sirs,

I am a British citizen now resident in Cyprus. I lived in Turkey for a long time and, as a translator from Turkish into English, closely follow developments in Turkey.

I am writing with reference to what appears to me to be a contradictory approach to regimes in certain Middle Eastern Countries and Turkey. The Syrian dictatorial regime, rightly, is criticised in the West and, if it did indeed use sarin against its own people, this is a heinous crime. However, we also see the Turkish regime, which is gradually slipping in the direction of an islamofascist variant of Putinism, using chemicals in its disproportionate response to what are basically peaceful protests by segments of the Turkish population. The Turkish Chamber of Chemical Engineers has already stated in a report that, in terms of the relevant international treaties, the Turkish police are using chemical warfare against protestors. There are frequent credible reports of a chemical additive being used with the water sprayed from water cannons that causes extreme skin irritation and burning. Six protestors were hospitalised a few days ago in the city of Adana as a result of this chemical, and a member of parliament who visited them in hospital said that some of them looked as though boiling water had been poured over them from head to toe. I understand the function of water cannons in crowd dispersal, but adding this chemical amounts to the indiscriminate application of an extrajudicial punishment by the law enforcement agencies. More disturbingly, there are recent reports of the use of a white power that combines with the water from water cannons to induce coughing and nausea. In fact, the protests that have rocked Turkish cities for the past two nights may not have occurred at all had the authorities permitted a few opposition figures to lay down carnations in the supposedly public square in Taksim, Istanbul and make a brief statement with regard to a protestor who had been killed the night before. Instead they were blocked from doing so by a huge phalanx of heavily armed riot police. This sparked off mass protests in the area, which met with a disproportionately violent police response, which included the vindictive use of the chemicals I have mentioned. I accept that these chemicals are far removed from sarin, but the difference here is qualitative and not quantitative – chemicals are being used against unarmed civilians. I do not expect to see military intervention against Turkey for this, but surely at a time when the West is contemplating military action against the dictatorial regime in Syria for using chemicals against innocent civilians, it is not to much to hope for to hear a word or two of criticism at Turkey’s use of similar means emanating from the mouths of Western leaders. Anything else is surely hypocrisy.

Regards,

Tim Drayton
Limassol, Cyprus

[Tim Drayton]

Close-up footage of the disturbances in the area around Taksim two nights ago, after the Turkish AKP regime prevented people from entering the public square in Taksim to lay down carnations in a dignified manner to mark the death of a protestor the night before:

http://www.capul.tv/10-092013-istiklal- ... b0879.html

[Tim Drayton]

More footage taken from among the protesters in İstiklal Street, just north of Taksim, two nights ago:

http://www.capul.tv/capultv-muhabiri-is ... 7305a.html

[Demonax]

Just sent the following to the British Foreign Office...

You might also wish to draw their attention to the following article...

Shocking Images of Dead Kurdish Fighters: Turkey Accused of Using Chemical Weapons against PKK

http://www.spiegel.de/international/wor ... 11536.html

[B25]

So when the Americans going in to bomb turkey then??

[Tim Drayton]

A protest is taking place at the moment in front of Galatasaray High School, close to Taksim Square, to mark the anniversary of the coup staged by a fascist junta in Turkey on this day in 1980.

http://www.alinteri.org/?p=20077

[Tim Drayton]

Just sent the following to the British Foreign Office...

You might also wish to draw their attention to the following article...

Shocking Images of Dead Kurdish Fighters: Turkey Accused of Using Chemical Weapons against PKK

http://www.spiegel.de/international/wor ... 11536.html

A valid point.

[Tim Drayton]

In Kadıköy, on the Asian side of the Bosphorus, and the scene of large protests for the last two nights, protesters are gathering at the Bull Statue. Large numbers of riot control and armoured police vehicles have moved in the area and there is a heavy police presence in the vicinity of the ferry terminal.

http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/?hn=440922&kn=7&ka=4&kb=7

[stpier]

Viva Turkey. United against the tiny enemy from the south.

[Tim Drayton]

Protests over the death of demonstrator Ahmet Atakan continued for a third night in Kadıköy, on the Asian side of Istanbul. Protestors congregated at the Bull Statue and staged a sit-down. When the group failed to heed police warnings to disperse and attempted to march, the police intervened with tear gas and water cannons. Standoffs between the police and demonstrators continued through the night in side streets.

A group protesting at the death of Ahmet Atakan held a demonstration in İsmetpaşa Street in Sultangazi’s Gazi Quarter. The group began to assemble at around 2130 and blocked İsmetpaşa Street by overturning refuse containers and setting fire to them. The rapid intervention force then intervened against the masked youths. The demonstrators replied with fireworks. The police used a water cannon to extinguish the burning barricade.

Protesters at the death of Ahmet Atakan assembled in Ankara’s Tuzluçayır neighbourhood. Demonstrators created barricades in the square using refuse containers, which they set fire to. The police, after having warned the demonstrators to disperse, intervened with pressurised water and tear gas.

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/24698969.asp