Free Republic

To understand the rage and news from Turkey and the alleged “Turkish Spring” being promoted by some websites and commentators, one has to have a deep understanding of the friends and enemies the nation of Turkey has acquired in eighty plus years of independence and Westernization thanks to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In the West, the British still resent the Turks for their unwillingness to take up arms against the Nazis in World War II. Believe it or not, some Germans hold the same animosity because a Turkish alliance with Nazi Germany would have crushed the Allies in Europe and the...

Something shocking happened on Saturday night during the uprisings against Erdogan’s AKP rule in Turkey. CNN’s local news provider, called CNN-Turk, aired a documentary on penguins during the climax of the protests. Turkish people have been suffering a lack of press freedom for a while; however, this has reached to a ridiculous point in the last few days. There is a phenomenal difference between how CNN international and CNN-Turk cover the protests and the Turkish people are furious, feel mocked and betrayed, and they rightfully demand CNN international to take action. On Saturday night, people who turned on their televisions...

1. Turkey's political ideology Since the 1920s Turkey has been vigorously secular in its public sphere. Now protestors accuse Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of blurring the line between religion and state by trying to impose the Islamist values of his Justice and Development party (AKP) on society as a whole. Last month the government introduced a new law cracking down on alcohol, banning the sale of drink between 10pm and 6am and forcing restaurants near schools or mosques to be dry. The government has also tried to clamp down on kissing in public. Some have also perceived a state...

After five days of rubber bullets (not commonly reported in the MSM), tear gas and water cannon aimed at them at least some of the demonstrators are getting an official apology from Turkey's government. The Deputy Prime Minister of the Islamic regieme Bulent Arinc says police overreacted when they fired tear gas at the environmentalist protestors in Istanbul last Friday. Sky News quotes Arinc as saying "The excessive violence that was used in the first instance against those who were behaving with respect to the environment is wrong and unfair. I apologise to those citizens....But I don't think we owe...

"In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, Turkey was often seen as the model for a democracy in the Muslim world. The economic policies of the current government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamic Fundamentalist party AKP have been praised widely in the West, just last week again by star-economist Jeffrey Sachs. So, where is the uprising coming from? To understand what is happening in Turkey, it makes sense to look at neighbouring Iran. In some ways, Iran could be seen as the prototype of the current regime in Turkey.".....

Turkish protestors have clashed with police in Istanbul overnight, in some of the worst violence since unrest erupted three days ago. Protesters in Beskitas district tore up paving stones to build barricades, and police responded with tear gas and water cannon. The violence was sparked by plans to build on a city park but have broadened into nationwide anti-government unrest. Protesters say the Turkish government is becoming increasingly authoritarian. They fear Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) is trying to impose conservative Islamic values on the officially secular country and infringe on their personal freedoms. correspondents...

There's a headline I haven't seen from the MSM this weekend but its the real story. Three days of protests in Turkey that started out as a single protest against a park in Istanbul being turned into a mosque and shopping mall have exploded into a nationwide revolt against the ruling democratically elected Islamic AK Party. The AP reported that the White House is calling on all parties in Turkey to 'calm the situation'. A Brookings Institution wonk from Turkey told the BBC World News Channel tonight that although the protestors want a more liberal society, Erdogan is supported by...

Hundreds of protestors have returned to the streets of Istanbul and Ankara after two days of unrest that have seen more than 1,700 arrests. Largely peaceful protesters waved flags in Istanbul's Taksim Square but there were reports that police had fired tear gas in Kizilay Square. PM Tayyip Erdogan said protestors were trying to undermine democracy. The protests began over redeveloping a park near Taksim Square but broadened into anti-government unrest...... Correspondents say many people are fed up with the government which they believe is becoming increasingly authoritarian and trying to take away some of their personal freedoms.

Police in the Turkish city of Istanbul have pulled out of Taksim square, where the largest anti-government protests in years are taking place. Thousands of people are gathered in the square after days of violence sparked by plans to redevelop a nearby park. Police have fired tear gas and water cannon several times to break up the riots, and rioters have thrown rocks at police. Turkey's President Abdullah Gul has called for “common sense” to prevail, admitting that the Taksim square protests had reached a “worrisome level”. He called on all sides to be "mature", urging police to "act in...

Turkey has entered a second day of violent protests, with fresh clashes between police and demonstrators in Istanbul and the capital, Ankara. The unrest began as a sit-in over plans to redevelop Gezi Park in Istanbul's Taksim Square, but escalated after police used tear gas. Tear gas was again fired Saturday at protestors in Istanbul and Ankara. In a defiant speech, PM Tayyip Erdogan insisted that the park project would go ahead. He also said that police would remain in Taksim Square to preserve order. Correspondents say that what began as a local issue has spiralled into more widespead anger...

ISTANBUL — Police officers attacked a group of peaceful demonstrators on Friday in Istanbul’s Taksim Square with water cannons and tear gas, sending scores of people, protesters and tourists alike, scurrying into shops and luxury hotels and turning the center of this city into a battle zone at the height of tourist season.

Thousands of demonstrators massed on streets surrounding Istanbul's central Taksim Square, long a venue for political unrest, while protests erupted in the capital Ankara and the Aegean coastal city of Izmir. Broken glass and rocks were strewn across a main shopping street near Taksim. Primary school children ran crying from the clouds of tear gas while tourists caught by surprise scurried to get back to luxury hotels lining the square. The unrest reflects growing disquiet at the authoritarianism of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP). Riot police clashed with tens of thousands of May...