After nearly two weeks of peaceful anti-government protests in Turkey, riot police have stormed the focal point of the demonstrations – Istanbul’s Taksim Square.
The signals are very worrying. Already there were troubling trends in this country: website blocking used frequently and abusively; excessive fines on media outlets; journalists imprisoned.
Thousands of supporters greeted prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan outside an Istanbul airport chanting “let us go, let’s crush Taksim”, as fear spreads that violent clashes are soon to follow.
PM Erdoğan’s inflammatory policies point to the pitfalls of majoritarian style democracy in Turkey.
Protests have reached a sixth day in Turkey, as people rush to the streets in the hope of pushing for reforms to the country’s democracy to rpotect secularism, freedom of the press, and freedom of dissent.