Quiet in Taksim Square, Istanbul. Image from JN1 video
After a night of clashes between protesters and riot police, tensions remain high but the trouble has quietened down for now in Istanbul’s Taksim Square.
Eerie calm this morning in #Taksim Square. Street cleaners at work,water cannon trucks poised, no protesters pic.twitter.com/pn4ACJlkUz
— Mark Lowen (@marklowen) June 12, 2013
Yesterday, riot police moved into the square to disperse protests after a combative speech by prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The police used pepper spray, water cannons, and so much tear gas that the entire square and its thousands of protesters looked to be engulfed in a cloud.
Of many photos to come out of #Taksim, one of more extraordinary: Police open fire – literally #Turkey (@GettyImages) pic.twitter.com/T5m89puhz3
— Jon Williams (@WilliamsJon) June 11, 2013
Surreal! “@Bassem_Sabry: The water is really strong RT "@KetyDC: Protestor hit by water sprayed from cannon Taksim pic.twitter.com/sQ7AytJ9sq"”
— Marietje Schaake (@MarietjeSchaake) June 11, 2013
Dün akşam Taksim'e ve Gezi Parkı'na yapılan ilk müdahalede havadan çekilen dehşet verici görüntüler geliyor! pic.twitter.com/u71GD5OJpe
— Ahmet Saymadi (@ahmetsaymadi) June 12, 2013
Powerful images of tear gas, water cannon & fires from overnight clashes in #Taksim Sq. http://t.co/8bHUebZyiQ pic.twitter.com/p18wLQ1Pl2
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) June 12, 2013
The police action was met with non-violent demonstrations by the vast majority of protesters who stood arm in arm in an attempt to prevent the police moving in a destroying their camps. A small minority, which many protesters argued were provocateurs and not part of the protests, clashed violently with police, throwing rocks and fire-bombs.
Protesters built make-shift clinics to help those injured in the clashes, with many moving location to Gezi Park to find shelter and calm allowing the police to take control of Taksim Square.
Heridos graves tras desalojo de manifestantes de la Plaza Taksim en Turquía: #Photo: MURAD SEZER_Reuters http://t.co/JdcR206AF6
— ARTURO BERMUDEZ (@bermudezphoto) June 12, 2013
In the 12 days of protests to date, the Turkish Human Rights Foundation reports that four people have been killed including one policeman. More than 5,000 protesters and 600 police officers have also been treated for injuries.
After sporadic clashes overnight, many of the protesters have gathered in adjacent Gezi Park, the location of the proposed shopping mall development that originally sparked the current wave of anti-government anger. The way the police used heavy handed and often violent techniques to quell these protests were seen as a sign of Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian style of government, and the recent law restricting the sale of alcohol in the country worries many that he is imposing conservative Islamic values on the secular country.
Erdogan had claimed that he would be meeting with protesters to discuss their grievances today, but protest organisers say that they have not been approached, and would refuse to meet him even if they were, after he has characterised them as “terrorists” that are out to “harm Turkey” in recent speeches. Erdogan does appear to be meeting with a group of people he hopes could mediate with the protesters, including an actress and a writer, although after the recent crackdown it will be very difficult to find any common ground. The protesters have also said they do not recognise this group as mediators.
Erdogan continues to claim that the protests have been hijacked by external groups, and in a televised speech said:
“To those who…are at Taksim and elsewhere taking part in the demonstrations with sincere feelings: I call on you to leave those places and to end these incidents and I send you my love.
But for those who want to continue with the incidents I say: It’s over.
We have no tolerance for them.”
