New Wave of Anti-government Protests in Turkey

On Saturday night protests were held simultaneously in 81 provinces, including those in Mersin, Ankara, Adana, Istanbul, Izmir, Diyarbakir, Erzincan, and other cities of Turkey, reported Radio Liberty.

 
 According to the opposition press in Turkey, there took to the streets more than three million people calling for the resignation of the ruling Justice and Development Party. City parks were the gathering place for the protesters. Many of the demonstrators inserted carnations into a buttonhole (carnations were favorite flowers of the Turkish Republic founder Kemal Ataturk), which many observers have called the symbol of the current events, and dubbed the Carnation Revolution. The opposition claims that the government has lost legitimacy and trust of the people.
 
In Istanbul Taksim Square, at seven o'clock in the evening on Saturday, despite the prohibitions of the authorities, thousands of demonstrators gathered again. The police used water cannons and gas to displace people into the surrounding streets. On the next street Istiklal, where there are diplomatic missions and hotels with foreign tourists, clashes between demonstrators and police continued all night. According to opposition TV Halk, police used a banned chemical preparation Agent Orange. Dozens of people were poisoned, there are detainees. According to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, criminal cases were filed against some nine civilian activists. A hundred thousand dollars was the fine imposed on the only opposition TV channel Halk, which shows the events live. The TV channel was accused that it was showing people smoking on the air, which is prohibited by the legislation of the country.
 
In turn, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan collects rallies of his own supporters. He stated that there is an international financial lobby, which is sponsoring these actions to destroy the economy of Turkey. He accused some international organizations of conspiracy and blamed participation of a "network of collaborators" in Turkey in this.
 
 Erdogan has denied the accusations in the suppression of democracy, stating that the people have enough freedom. -02D-

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