Demonstrations Renewed in Turkey

ISTANBUL,(ST) _ Thousands of protesters returned to Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Saturday, demanding justice for a demonstrator slain by police fire during demonstrations that have swept Turkey this month. Police later forced the protesters out of the square, pushing them back using their shields, according to AFP.

In the capital, Ankara, police fired tear gas and pressurized water to break up a similar protest by a group of about 200 people, the Dogan news agency reported.

Turkey has been hit by a wave of protests this month that were ignited by a brutal police crackdown on a peaceful environmental sit-in at a park near Taksim. The demonstrations soon turned into a wide outpouring of discontent with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government. Four people – three demonstrators and one police officer – have been killed and thousands injured.

The demonstrations have largely subsided in recent days, but thousands converged back on the square on Saturday, angry over a court decision this week that released a police officer from custody pending his trial for the killing of a protester in Ankara.

The protesters also denounced the killing of a Kurdish demonstrator by paramilitary police in a mainly Kurdish town on Friday.

Police allowed protesters to chant slogans for some two hours before issuing a warning for them to disperse. They then moved in, pushing the crowd away from the square. They arrested several people in the process, including some foreign nationals, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Earlier Saturday, hundreds in southeast Turkey attended the funeral of the Kurdish youth, who was shot while protesting the construction of a military post. Eight other people were injured in the same protest when security forces fired on them in the mainly Kurdish town of Lice.

Turkish artists and journalists demand  Erdogan government  to stop sedition in the country

In another context, Turkish  artists , journalists and writers appealed to the Turkish government to “desist hate statement  and fueling division in the country.”

AFP yesterday quoted a statement by Turkish artists, journalists and writers including Nobel laureate for literature Orhan Pamuk as saying  ” the statement ” You’re against us “fuels divisions within our society,” expressing concern over this situation.

Among the artists is the known pianist Fadel Sai, who was sentenced in mid-May because of a Tweet via Twitter but the Turkish government cancelled the decision  following a  storm of criticism  against  the Turkish authorities .

It is noteworthy that Turkey is witnessing popular demonstrations demanding the departure of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government , resulted in the  death of several people and injuring  and the  arrest of more than 1,000 I others  as a result of repression Erdogan exercised the against  his opponents.

T. Fateh