Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Facebook denies sharing user information with Turkish govt
 |
| AFP Photo / Leon Neal |
Facebook says it has not provided any user data to Turkish authorities in response to protest-related requests. It comes after a Turkish minister said the social media site has been cooperative “for a long time,” and that Twitter will likely comply too.
“Facebook has not provided user data to Turkish authorities in response to government requests relating to the protests,” the company said in a statement. “We reject all government data requests from Turkish authorities and push them to formal legal channels unless it appears that there is an immediate threat to life or a child.”
Facebook has expressed concerns over a draft bill on social media which would require companies to share data with Turkish authorities. Executives plan on raising the issue during this week’s meeting with Turkish officials in the US.
Earlier on Wednesday, Turkish Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, Binali Yildirim, said the country’s government was satisfied with Facebook’s assistance.
“Facebook has been working in coordination with the Turkish authorities for a long time. They have a unit in Turkey. We don’t have any problem with them,” Yildirim said. The statement sparked outrage among Turkish social network users.
 |
| Turkish protesters stand in Red Crescent square during a 'duranadam' (standing person) protest in Ankara (AFP Photo / AdemM Atlan) |
Yildirim added that Twitter has not shown such “positive approach” despite “necessary warnings” from Turkey. He said that the Turkish government has asked Twitter, along with other social media sites, to set up a representative office inside the country.
“We have told all social media that...if you operate in Turkey you must comply with Turkish law…When information is requested, we want to see someone in Turkey who can provide this...there needs to be an interlocutor we can put our grievance to and who can correct an error if there is one,” he said.
“Twitter will probably comply too. Otherwise, this is a situation that cannot be sustained,” Yildirim stressed. His statement was presumably referring to social media’s role in the country’s recent anti-government protests. He added that the government seeks only to “turn down the volume of the social media,” rather than restricting it.
Another ministry official told Reuters that Turkey has asked Twitter to reveal the identities of users who posted messages which were considered insulting to Prime Minister Erdogan or the Turkish government. It was not immediately clear if Twitter responded.
Prime Minister Erdogan called social networking sites a “nuisance” during the anti-government protests in June, after local media reported that dozens were arrested for “inciting unrest” via social media.
The country's interior minister previously announced that Ankara was working on new regulations that would target so-called "provocateurs" on social media. A source told Reuters that the justice ministry had proposed that any Turk wishing to open a Twitter account would have to enter his or her national identification number. This was reportedly turned down by the transport ministry for being technically infeasible.
Turkey has a long record of legislative moves which rights groups believe fall under internet censorship. Ankara banned YouTube for more than two years in 2008 after a video clip ‘insulted’ the Turkish Republic’s founder, Ataturk.
‘The unrest seeks to distract Turkey’s attention from Syria’
 |
| Turkish demonstrators burn flares during a protest on Gundogdu square in Izmir. (AFP Photo / Ozan Kose) |
The documents about provocateurs, organizers and managers of the Turkish protests will be published soon, said Prime Ministerial advisor Mustafa Şentop, the person in charge of drafting the new Turkish Constitution, told RT.
Sentop is a law professor, and Deputy Chairman of the Justice and Development Party, member of the Constitution drafting committee, and MP for Istanbul. He told RT how the ‘interest-rate lobby’ had been preparing the coup since 2009, why the main street cannot change power in Turkey, and why exactly the media are to blame.
 |
| Mustafa Şentop, law professor, and Deputy Chairman of the Justice and Development Party, member of the Constitution drafting committee, and MP for Istanbul. (Photo by Nadezhda Kevorkova) |
Q: What is the new Constitution all about? Do you have any agreement with the US on revamping it?
A: Let me first say that Turkey does not tolerate any foreign interference whatsoever, including the US, into these matters. Under no circumstances can the draft Constitution be discussed with the United States or the European Union.
The new Constitution is a need that the JDP has recognized since it came to power in 2002. On May 27, 1960, Turkey saw a military coup, which ushered in a new constitutional order. In this order, most decisions were taken by the military and bureaucracy rather than politicians. They would do what they wanted behind the back of the elected politicians, who were, in fact, figureheads. The politicians themselves raised little objection.
Ever since the JDP came to power in 2002, it has been working hard to turn the tide. If national sovereignty rests with the people, and the people vest the powers to exercise this sovereignty to politicians by electing them, these politicians must stand for these powers, whatever happens.
Q: Is it true that Erdogan referred to Turkey's constitution as a document written by “two drunks”?
A: He was not talking about the Constitution. The Parliament had passed a law to limit alcohol sales at certain times of the day – a restriction that is in fact far more lenient than in Europe, let alone several American states. What we wanted is stop people from buying and selling spirits at night, as well as outside mosques and schools. When we put forward a bill, you speak against it, but when some MPs suggest discussing other laws on free sales of alcohol, you adopt them – that’s what the Prime Minister was saying. He used the popular expression ‘the two drunks’ here.
Q: Let’s go back to the Constitution that will make the President electable by a popular vote….
A: The JDP is an unyielding advocate of national sovereignty. This is why we came up with a new draft Constitution. Since 2002, we have initiated a whole number of political reforms to transform the system founded back in 1960, after the coup.
Another important step was marked by the 2010 referendum, which adopted quite a few constitutional amendments.
The new draft is supposed to be an upgraded and updated version of the Constitution. It will draw a legislative line under what we have achieved so far.
The new Constitution draws from the premise that if the sovereignty belongs to the people, everyone in power has to lean on it. No constitutional powers can be….
Those who are appointed to their offices must be accountable to those who are elected. Our goal is to give politicians control over bureaucrats, not vice versa. We believe this is what true democracy looks like.
 |
| Protesters raise their hands as they gather on Taksim square during the clash between riot police and protestors in Istanbul on June 22, 2013. (AFP Photo / Ozan Kose) |
Q: Do the events at Taksim have anything to do with the new Constitution?
A: About three or four months ago we started receiving reports that something like that was under way. There are foreign governments directly engaged into this – we can tell that by the media coverage. For instance, on June 16 Kazlıçeşme Square saw a rally of around 1.5 million JDP supporters – one of the biggest rallies in human history. They had gathered to back the ruling party and the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, CNN covered the event, calling it an anti-government protest in Turkey. Just like the BBC, Reuters, the German media, they spread false rumors about our country. We are free to call most of these media the Israeli lobby, because they are funded by Israel. They all offer a rather one-sided, negative coverage of the events in Turkey. When 52 people were killed in Reyhanlı, the CNN only briefly mentioned it in its news ticker. But when the initially peaceful events at Taksim started unfolding, the CNN gave non-stop live broadcasts from the place. It was a clearly an orchestrated scheme.
Q: Is this scenario aimed at distracting Turkey’s attention from Syria or involving it even more? Or, perhaps, there is another objective?
A: I think there is another objective. Turkey became stronger throughout the rule of the JDP under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The GDP growth of Turkey is 3 per cent, and this is the result of the year’s first quarter only. For instance, the average growth rate across Europe is negative. So Turkey has a stable economy against the background of economic decline in a number of countries. Another issue is that Turkey has become a strong regional player in international relations. That is why I believe that by causing turmoil and instability inside the country they were trying to make Turkey focus on its domestic affairs so that it wouldn’t be able to participate in the settlement of the Syrian crisis. Turkey is concerned about a successful resolution of the problems in Syria, which is obvious – it is our neighbor we share our longest common border with, and in some places this border cuts across villages. Yesterday I got a phone call from my former student who had gone to the wedding of his relatives that took place in Mardin. Part of the relatives live on the Turkish territory and they were detained by the military police while crossing the border with Syria for they didn’t have their passports with them. I called their boss, told him about the wedding and explained the situation asking him to help. I hope they finally made it to the wedding. So the relations between Turkey and Syria are extremely different from relations with the USA, Russia or Germany. The long frontier implies security problems. Turkey is a country that is directly affected by the Syrian problems, so we are more than others looking forward to their soonest settlement. If there is an international conference to be held on the issue – Turkey must be granted the greatest voting power. The clashes take place right before the Geneva talks between the envoys of the UN, Russia and the USA, so they are aimed at weakening the positions of Turkey.
Q: In this case, since you know Russia participates in the talks and has a different viewpoint on the Syrian problem as compared to the West, do you consider it as one of the instigators?
A: No, we don’t think Russia has a hand in the Taksim unrest.
Q: Then who are the instigators in your opinion?
A: External forces have their branches inside Turkey. The growth and stabilization of the Turkish economy had a negative impact on those groups that had raised money on high interest rates on the national debt. Financial speculators are no longer able to make mega-profits. In 2002 they gave us loans at 63 per cent. Since then, we’ve pulled down interest rates to 4.6 per cent in May 2013. If we had continued taking money at those high rates, we would have paid this “interest-rate lobby” some 642 extra billion dollars. Thanks to Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that money was invested and not given away for paying the interest rates. Surely, there are some groups that can’t earn as much as they used to, so they are dissatisfied with the JDP’s and Erdogan’s course.
 |
| Turkish protesters clash with Turkish riot policemen on Taksim square in Istanbul on June 22, 2013. (AFP Photo / Bulent Kilic) |
Q: Why did this “interest-rate lobby” – as Erdogan put it – decide to take action now?
A: We know that the first preparations for the Taksim events cropped up in 2009. How can you overthrow the JDP? The JDP came to power after the election in November 2002 with 34 per cent of the votes. In 2003 the Ergenekon organization made its first attempts to overturn Turkey. In April 2007 the parliament was to elect Abdullah Gül president, but the military interfered and posted an “E-memorandum” on their website, after which the Constitutional Court scrapped the results of the election. The JDP responded with a statement as well, in which it said that the army should obey the government and the president elected by the people. It was an unprecedented case in Turkish history – as the government used to resign after such statements before. That was a positively stubborn policy of the JDP, which was not typical for the established political relations in the country. Moreover, we carried out two reforms back then. First, we introduced amendments to the Constitution, according to which the president was elected by the people – not by the parliament. Second, we decided to hold snap elections in July this year, which is four months earlier than usual. Many people in media, business, military, and banks believed that the JDP won just by chance, and expected it to lose in the next election. However in summer 2007 the JDP won 47 percent of the vote; and then the president was elected. In 2008, the Constitutional Court attempted to close the JDP. Six people voted for, and five people, against. They were just one vote short of overthrowing the legitimately elected party.
 |
| Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) and Abdullah Gul (right), foreign minister and the ruling party's candidate, vote together during presidental elections at the parliamnet in Ankara, 27 April 2007. (AFP Photo) |
By telling this I just want to demonstrate that the struggle against our party never stopped since its very first victory. In 2010 our party continued working on democratizing Turkey, and proposed the constitutional reforms to the referendum. The main thing that changed was that from then on, the army and the bureaucracy would be headed by those popularly elected. Another amendment was that four out of 17 Constitutional Court members are now elected by the Grand National Assembly, whereas in the past, they had been appointed by the president. Consequently, today’s Taksim events are an attempt of overthrowing the JDP’s authority by those who had been trying to disrupt it all these years. In 2011, the party won almost 50 percent of the vote. Its opponents cannot win by supporting other political parties in the elections. Powers within the state such as army and bureaucracy have also lost their positions so they no longer can compete with us. So the decision was made to use revolutionary technologies. They put forward the groups not supported by any political parties so that they would cause unrest, make an appearance of instability, and disrupt the JDP. I recently read a study that described an experiment on group management. In a group of 20 strangers, there are 3 people who know each other and how they were given a particular task by the organizers. They end up easily leading all the others in just 10 minutes. In campaigns like that, people with good, naïve intentions don’t even notice that they are easily managed by organized individuals who have clear political objectives. In this country, they decided to try out the Arab spring scenario of the Middle East, or the Velvet revolution scenario of the post-Soviet space. But it will not work in Turkey; we will not let it happen.
 |
| An anti goverment protester flashes a victory sign during the clashes between protestors and riot police on Taksim square in Istanbul on June 22, 2013. (AFP Photo / Ozan Kose) |
Q: What’s the difference between the situation of Turkey and that of the Arab countries?
A: Unlike Turkey, those countries never had democracy, and their people could never change the authorities by elections. So they went out into the streets and used those methods because they had no other means. But Turkey is a democracy. We have free elections, and since 1950 there haven’t been any doubts in their fairness. Those unhappy with authorities can change them by elections. It is absolutely wrong to see any relationship to the events in Egypt or Tunisia. The Gezi Park rally can be compared to environment activists campaigns in Western countries. Arguably, the environment was the pretext to start it. At the same time, our situation is different from such countries as Spain or Greece where people protest because of the economic recession and unemployment. We don’t have such problems in our country. There are no common or individual problems which would make people feel the need to go out in the streets of Turkey. Essentially, the announced rally objectives and their real implementation strongly contradict each other. For the sake of six trees, they already caused $100 mln worth of damage, and ruined plants, flowers, and landscaped areas. They burned municipal buses, destroyed banks, broke windows, and so on. This is no longer a peaceful protest when people throw stones, balls studded with nails, and Molotov cocktails at police. For instance, last week there were protests against the G8 summit in London where police also used force and detained 52 people even though demonstrators carried neither stones nor Molotov cocktails. This way we can see that campaigns have been organized by those domestic and international circles that aren’t happy with the JDP policies and with the fact that Turkey’s growing stronger. We have the corresponding documents which will be presented in court.
Q: What documents do you have?
A: We have information about those who provoked and organized these protests, and provided logistics, funds and other resources. As an example, New York Times published an ad on protests. A campaign was organized to pay for it, and $40.000 out of $100.000 was covered by Rafagen, a US pharmaceutical company of Israeli origin. This information was found in open sources. The documents we have will be made public in the near future. In conclusion I want to say that Turkey has already survived military coup attempts, the “E-memorandum”, presidential election deadlock, and the JDP closure cases. The same way, we will survive this phase as well. Turkey is strong enough to make it.
Q: President Morsi terminated Egypt’s diplomatic relations with Syria. Many consider it a declaration of war. How does Turkey view it?
A: Egypt is an important actor in this region, along with Turkey and Iran. Egypt could’ve been more strongly involved in the Syrian conflict had it not been so busy with its own domestic issues. We believe Egypt has taken the right position which would be able to impact on the situation. The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
Covert crackdown: RT's correspondent water-cannoned in Ankara night raid (VIDEO)
Turkish police are continuing crackdown on protesters and apparently the press, which RT’s Tom Barton experienced first-hand when attacked by a water cannon. Social media are also flooded with pictures of the wounds from the police’s non-lethal force.
While covering a peaceful protest in Ankara, RT’s correspondent was sprayed by a water canon law enforcement vehicle in front of the cameramen and the crew.
The video shows that the truck deliberately started spraying the correspondent, as the stream of water directly target the news crew. It further shows the police truck spraying anyone on the streets.
“Water cannon and gas vehicles have just charged into the square, if we look down at my legs now, not even the media are safe,” Barton says. “I just got literally knocked off of my feet by the water cannon that has just moved on there.”
Outrage over the police tactics also exploded on social media as rubber bullets were used by law enforcement to disperse the march at Taksim Square on Saturday.
Turkish police is using plastic bullet to protestors! We are human just human!! #çapulculartaksime pic.twitter.com/D4hMv9svgs — Hülya (@Holydakiran) June 22, 2013
Water cannons were also fired to quell thousands on a day when Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan announced a “foreign conspiracy” was behind the three week long protest.
A civilian hit by plastic bullet by the police! Occupy gezi for us! #çapulculartaksime pic.twitter.com/qAr6ofvOm1 — Hülya (@Holydakiran) June 22, 2013
Armed with carnation flowers in the hand, demonstrators approach the police line when they were met by force, flanked by water cannon, to clear the square.
"Police, don't betray your people!" demonstrators yelled as police dispersed them.
On Friday, the Turkish publication Hurriyet reported that Ankara spent $8.5 million on purchasing gas grenades and rubber bullets from an American company in Pennsylvania over a 15-month period between October 2011 and December 2012.
With at least 4 dead and more than 5,000 injured in the demonstrations, the government is also intensifying its judicial crackdown. Dozens of suspected protest organizers have been arrested over the last week. On Saturday, a court in Ankara said that 23 more people were arrested and accused of aiding a “terrorist” organization.
The detained are accused of organizing the protests and engaging in violence for the Communist Marxist-Leninist Party (MLKP), AFP reported.
The sting operation which started on Tuesday against leftists cells in Turkey has now detained at least 47 people.
Violence in Turkey erupted on May 31 after a peaceful protest against plans to demolish Istanbul's Gezi Park was dispersed by police using force.
Riot police cleanse streets of Istanbul, Ankara, as Erdogan blames ‘foreign conspiracy’ for protests
 |
| A protester holds the Turkish flag in front of a riot police line near Taksim Square in Istanbul June 22, 2013 (Reuters / Marko Djurica) |
After dispersing a crowd commemorating the victims of police brutality with tear gas and rubber bullets, police swept the side streets of Istanbul with water cannons to prevent people from gathering again. Similar cleansing could be witnessed in Ankara.
Scattered clashes in the streets around Istanbul’s Taksim Square were being reported for hours after police dispersed the massive rally on the square itself. At least 42 people were injured in clashes, according to Istanbul Medical Chamber.
Police used heavy-handed tactics to push protesters back from Taksim, unleashing a barrage of rubber bullets and thick clouds of tear gas. Water cannon trucks were then parked at several entry points to Taksim to prevent the demonstrators from regrouping.
Meanwhile in the streets of the Turkish capital of Ankara, police sprayed tear gas and water to break up hundreds of protesters who were planning to march to the city's main square. Ankara riot police have been patrolling the streets in such a manner over the last week, with RT’s Tom Barton having experienced himself how it feels to be suddenly attacked by water cannon.
Water cannons, tear gas in Istanbul as Erdogan blames ‘foreign conspiracy’ for protests
 |
| Protesters run as the riot police fire water cannon at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 22, 2013 (Reuters / Marko Djurica) |
Turkish riot police fired water cannons and tear gas to clear Istanbul's Taksim Square from thousands of protesters, who returned to the site after PM Tayyip Erdogan blamed the massive protests on Turkey’s “enemies from abroad”. The protestors gathered in the square holding carnations and Turkish national flags in their hands, with no political banners on display. The police didn’t let the people return to Gezi Park, which has been cordoned off since last week. The crowd condemned the closure of the park, chanting: "Open park belonging to the public." After warning the people to disperse, the riot police used water cannons to quell the demonstration. The crowd quickly scattered, with the protesters shouting: "Police, don't betray your people!" Stand-offs continued in side streets with Twitter reports of further water cannoning and even teargassing. Water cannon trucks were then parked at several entry points to Taksim to prevent the demonstrators from regrouping.
 |
| Riot police fire a water cannon at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 22, 2013 (Reuters / Marko Djurica) |
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, took part in the pro-governmental ‘Respect for National Will’ rally in the Black Sea port city of Samsun. In his speech, he touched upon the Gezi Park protests, saying that the whole action was masterminded by the enemies of Turkey from abroad.
Taksim de polis kalabaligi dağıtmak üzere üzerine pic.twitter.com/hRPEE0CfII
— ilhan tanir (@WashingtonPoint) June 22, 2013
"I am asking you. Who is the winner at the end of the protests going on for three weeks now?” Erdogan is cited as saying by the local Anadolu news agency. “I will tell you. The winners are the 'interest rate lobbies' as well as Turkey's enemies. Who has lost? Turkey's economy, tourism, and international strength and the image of Turkey." The prime minister said that the anti-government rallies currently taking place across Brazil are part of the same global conspiracy, which Turkey suffered from.
 | |
| Turkish protesters clash with Turkish riot policemen on Taksim square in Istanbul on June 22, 2013 (AFP Photo / Bulent Kilic) |
"It was the same game being played on Brazil, and same symbols, same banners, and the same international media. They are doing their best to achieve in Brazil what they could not achieve in Turkey," he said. Erdogan also denied accusations that the police have been using excessive force against the Taksim protesters during the weeks of unrest. "It is a betrayal to show Turkish police as pro-violence in the international media. The police are ours and they are doing their duty," the PM stressed. The Taksim square has been the cradle of protests since May 31 after the police used force to remove a group of environmentalists opposing the government’s plans to develop Gezi Park. But the rally quickly transformed into show of dissent against the government and Erdogan, who opponents call an authoritarian leader, pushing for the Islamisation of Turkey and meddling in peoples’ everyday lives.
 |
| A protestor wears a gas mask during clashes with police near Taksim Square in Istanbul June 22, 2013 (Reuters / Marko Djurica) |
 |
| Protesters run as riot police fire teargas at Taksim Square in Istanbul June 22, 2013 (Reuters / Marko Djurica) |
 |
| A protester jumps over a fire as he runs from riot police on a street near Taksim Square in Istanbul June 22, 2013 (Reuters / Marko Djurica) |
The Great Stand-off of Istanbul: An impact of flash mobs on revolution
 |
| RT Photo / Nadezhda Kevorkova |
There are dozens of outraged men on a street near Gezi Park, which is packed with hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops. These people work in those very hotels and restaurants. Just about five minutes before, a group of young guys wearing scarves had decided to tease the police, so those men threatened to give them a spanking. When it didn’t work and the gang called out “Erdogan, go away!” the workers poured out into the street and settled the score with the young men without resorting to violence. I was staying in one of the hotels on this street, where I have been the only guest for the past two weeks. My window on the 8th floor which overlooks Gezi Park was broken. All staff members I had a chance to talk to were not fans of Erdogan or the JDP party. You can buy alcohol in their cafes and hotels, and the more they sell, the better it is. They were right when they assumed that tourists would be much more attracted by places overlooking a park than a shopping mall or a mosque, let alone a construction site. These people were sympathetic to the protesters in the camp and discussed it with enthusiasm. But in the days of the protests they made no profit at all. Yes, they disapprove of the police storming of the protest camp, and they agreed the police had gone too far firing tear gas against such a non-threatening camp. Yes, they were not pleased to hear the prime minister calling the protesters “looters”. But they don’t like it when members of the opposition come to their street shouting slogans, throwing stones, writing on walls and provoking the police to use tear gas against them. They are not fine with such a course of events as it may be fraught with their poverty.
 |
| RT Photo / Nadezhda Kevorkova |
Once politics gives way to political technology – a revolution turns into a flash mob. One German reporter said “the new Turks” protest against “Islamic Philistinism”. It’s unclear whether the protesters will accept this kind of assessment, but people haven’t understood their new-fangled ways of self-expression, so those ways have become quite weird. Activists posted a call in social networks for all Turkish citizens to freeze for just several seconds at 8PM sharp as a protest against arrests and other severe police measures. As a result, people have been silently protesting in front of the Marmara Hotel on Taksim Square for several days. On the second floor of the hotel there’s a cafe with a fantastic view over the Square. However you’re not allowed to take any photos, even with your cell phone. This is the warning you get from waiters who are watching clients very closely. But you can stay in this cooled place as long as you want to look at the Square and drinking overpriced water or coffee. Makes you wonder why the hotel hasn’t started selling tickets to watch the show. In the mornings there are just a few people standing on the Square. Their number keeps increasing during the day, and by the night, about a thousand people fill the place. They stand and stare into eternity. Some people are facing the huge Ataturk portrait on the Cultural Center. Others are looking at the Gezi Park which is still surrounded by police, and more police are standing or sitting behind the cordon. By the way, policemen are reading books instead of relaxing. Photographers who got to take a closer look at their books through their lenses commented that policemen were reading Tolstoy and Umberto Eco and that those books were specially delivered there for the police.
 |
| RT Photo / Nadezhda Kevorkova |
The Stand-off protesters refuse interviews, speaking or communicating. Reporters walk among these lines of people standing there like dummies, and make their stories with them in the background. Occasionally you can get some of the protesters to talk but mostly they boycott the media. A Muslim man who came over to look at this event noted how strongly Islam had rooted in people’s mentality. Even in their protest against ‘Islamization’ both atheists and agnostics were standing in lines like Muslims during their Salah. ‘Maybe this would help them finally open their eyes?’ he said. A young hipster in a lab coat is already in a way opening his eyes. A sophomore in a medical college, he is from a good family and speaks fluent English. He is not standing – he’s sitting and watching, ready to offer medical help if someone has sunstroke because of the heat. He agrees to talk to us. He tells us about Muslims coming to Gezi Park to give away simits and sweets on June 9, the day of the Isra and Mi'raj (The Night Journey of Prophet Muhammad to Jerusalem). “I am more tolerant of their religion now that I’ve learned something about Islam,” he says. He refers to it as “their religion”. That’s how the future doctor sees the situation developing: “There are three possible options. The military could stage a coup, but there are no chances of this happening. The government could resign, but that’s very unlikely. Probably it will all just quiet down with time.”
 |
| RT Photo / Nadezhda Kevorkova |
It hasn’t quieted down yet, and so many people keep standing for hours. Some grow too tired and sit down on the ground. There are artists here who draw the standing people, and photographers who do long photo shoots, especially when they find model-looking girls standing. Taksim Square and the Standoff itself have already become tourist attractions. Tourists that come here on sightseeing buses sometimes watch the standing protesters and reading policemen from the windows, sometimes they listen to their tour guides, walk through the lines of standing people and take pictures with them in the background. Gay rights activists can also be found among the protesters. One of them urges the people to join hands and face Gezi Park and the policemen instead of Ataturk’s portrait to make their point clearer. People are reluctant to listen to him, but eager to take his picture. Yesterday a group of burly bearded men appeared in the square wearing T-shirts with “Standing man against the standing man” on them. They don’t say a word, either. From time to time senior citizens approach them with hopes of persuading them that what they’re doing is wrong. Reporters have a new background to use in their stories. Soon after the protesters started getting creative. A young man made a poster that said “Standing man against the standing men against the standing man”. Then a girl came with a “Mom! I’m standing here just because!” poster. It’s curious that two mobile phone games about the events on Taksim Square. In one the player’s task is to run away from the police, and in the other – to collect lemons that help negate the effects of a gas attack. We’ll have to wait and see what games the Standoff will create. The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
Dozens arrested as Turkish police raid private addresses in Ankara, Istanbul
 |
| A protestor reacts as he is arrested by Turkish police officers, in Istanbul, on June 16, 2013.(AFP Photo / Ronny Roman) |
Turkish police are conducting raids on left-wing groups in Istanbul and Ankara, making dozens of arrests. The unrest that has gripped the country for over two weeks shows little sign of abating, and the government has threatened to deploy the military. Police in Ankara made 25 arrests on Tuesday in multiple raids at addresses across the Turkish capital, local media reported. In a similar crackdown in Istanbul officers took 66 activists into custody, as well as 13 in the western city of Eskisehir. Clashes erupted once again on Monday as police in Istanbul sought to disperse striking trade union workers who were demanding an end to police violence. Officers used teargas and water cannons on protesters who scuffled with police at different points around the city. Separately, a number of demonstrations were held across the country in solidarity with the ‘Occupy Gezi Park’ movement. The Turkish government condemned the unrest on Monday, and said it may deploy the military to bring the anti-government protests under control. “Our police, our security forces are doing their jobs. If it’s not enough then the gendarmes will do their jobs. If that’s not enough… we could even use elements of the Turkish Armed Forces,” Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told state TV. He decried the unions’ strike as “illegal,” and warned that further protests would not be tolerated. Arinc’s words echo the government’s increasingly strong rhetoric against the protesters. During an AK party rally on Sunday, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told supporters that the activists were being manipulated by terrorists and dismissed accusations that he was behaving like a dictator.
 |
| Erdem Gunduz stands in a silent protest at Taksim Square in Istanbul early June 18, 2013.(Reuters / Marko Djurica) |
In a strong rebuke of the European Parliament’s condemnation of recent Turkish police brutality, he stated the institution had “no honesty” and needed to “learn its place.” Erdogan has defended the police’s use of pepper spray against protesters, calling it their “natural right.” He added that the protests have now caused around $60 million of damage. The protests first began on May 28 over a plan to redevelop Gezi Park, located on Taksim Square, and have now snowballed into national movement against a government that activists regard as overly “authoritarian.” Many have criticized Erdogan for his autocratic approach to government, and for impressing conservative Islamist values on a secular society. The violent unrest sweeping Turkey has so far left over 5,000 people injured and at least four dead. In the last 48 hours, police have taken over 500 people into custody.
 |
| Police fire tear gas at demonstrators during protests at Kizilay square in central Ankara.(Reuters / Dado Ruvic) |
 |
| Turkish police stand guard at the entrance of Gezi Park at Taksim Square in Istanbul.(Reuters / Marko Djurica) |
Syria in-depth analysis: Where the anti-Assad coalition went wrong
 |
We don’t know what will come out of Geneva II, the US and Russian backed conference for a political solution to the Syrian crisis. But it is forcing rhetorical and diplomatic conversions upon those taking the road to Damascus. In mid-May the Arab League made a surprising declaration. Two months after handing Syria’s seat at Doha to the opposition, League Chief Nabil el-‘Arabi explained that Syria’s seat was in fact vacant, that the opposition was in Doha at the invitation of Qatar, and that having failed to form a government, it was barred from attending League meetings. Then Turkey. Erdogan’s fiery anti-Assad rhetoric, even accusing the Syrian regime of the Reyhanli attacks, gave way to reports rebels were arrested with Sarin gas in Turkey. In a country ranked low on press freedom, the absence of neither government confirmation nor refutation speaks volumes. Before the sarin story broke, the usually tight-lipped FM Davutoglu treated journalists to a session of bizarre intimate confessions on how he formed his judgement on Syria and Assad, as if he were coming to terms with the past, before the next leap of faith. In Arabia, there was no soul searching. Patrons of the now discredited Syrian National Coalition turned. Qatar, smarting from its failure to engineer and broadcast Assad’s fall over its very own private TV channel, ceded its place to Saudi Arabia. The change of guard was reflected in the changing composition of the SNC, not easy as the SNC agrees only on one thing: wrestling power from Assad, and nothing else.
 |
| Rebels fighters prepare to fire a portable canon against an adjacent Syrian government-held building during fighting.(AFP Photo / Zac Baillie) |
Syrian Revolution’s false premises
The Syrian opposition’s problem is not the absence of alternatives to toppling Assad. It is the abundance of alternatives and their sponsors that retards them. On one hand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey’s intervention scenarios took the shape of “invisible armies” of extremists, disgruntled young men brainwashed by their imams, recruited from Syria and abroad and sent to fight against Bashar el-Assad. Qatar, driven by Libyan‘success’ euphoria was followed by Saudi Arabia in to leading the Syrian revolution. Muslim Brotherhood cadres close to Qatar were so certain of toppling Assad that (before Erdogan cut ties with Assad in May 2011) they declared in Istanbul that Assad was not going to follow through on reforms and that Syrian protests would continue. On the other hand, the U.S. cadre of pundits, politicians and leaders found itself stymied. They typically seek regime change through two complementary scenarios: achieving a state of revolution via compliant media and social media, which manufactures consent and lays the ground for intervention. UNSC resolutions on Syria repeatedly stumbled on Chinese and Russian vetoes, excluding UN-sanctioned intervention. Syria’s strong air defence, as well as the ‘no boots on the ground’ pledge kept America at bay. Washington was left to lead from behind, endorsing and backing a Qatari scenario increasingly appearing as a first stage intervention whose only goal was to create chaos and give America’s and Israel’s hawks time to ponder options for a large scale intervention, while Syria burns.
 |
| Man riding his motorbike past a burnt out Syrian Army tank in Rastan, in the central Homs province.(AFP Photo / Shaam News Network) |
But after two years of war, with the Syrian state apparatus still intact, the interventionists in Washington and Tel Aviv opted for a show of ‘force’, sending ‘Bomb -Iran’ McCain on a photo-mission to Syrian rebels who were revealed to be kidnappers of Lebanese citizens. France and Britain, featuring inexperienced leaders atop sinking economies dependant on Gulf investments, enthusiastically endorsed Qatar’s violent scenario. By the end of the first year of the crisis external weapons and fighters were already flowing to Syria , with the help of all countries cited above, and without much coordination. When, in his latest interview with Al-Manar TV, Assad outlined how the Syrian army shifted from defensive to offensive positions only when “Syrians understood developments on the ground”, he meant the popular backlash against the western supported Qatari scenario for Syria: destruction, looting, beheading, kidnappings, sectarianism, terrorist bombings. Syria was compared to Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia while ordinary Syrians helplessly watched their country being stripped of its dignity by a foreign agenda supported by foreign fighters. At this stage the opposition had no chance left of being ever able to rally the majority of Syrian Sunnis, let alone Syrians at large.
The resilience factor
Throughout the first year of the crisis, from July-Dec 2012, the opposition attempted to engineer defections using Qatari money. Regular stories of high-level army and government defections were rolled out. The reality is none were important or game-changing, nor did they rally popular Syrian support. In the face of abundant scenarios to topple him, Assad and his government focused on one: keeping Syria united and winning the Syrian people. For over two years, the Syrian government and the army acted as one: the Baath stood behind Assad, who stood for the Baath. Reforms were enacted under the bombs, elections were held and a new constitution was approved. The army that everyone expected to disintegrate, was dispatched in a controlled manner, slowly adapting to a changing war terrain; first, in a defensive manner preserving its unity and its morale, then offensive when the destruction of Syria became too much to bear for Syrians.
 |
| A Free Syrian Army fighter carrying his weapon, smokes as he stands on the rubble of damaged buildings in Kefr Hamra, Aleppo June 17, 2013. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib |
At the same time, the government closed the information gap. Al-Jazeera, having lost credibility during the Libyan war, faced revulsion across the Arab world. Its activist ‘correspondents’ on the ground in Syria delivered news formatted for external consumption, feeding its owner’s propaganda and standing in formation with western govt information machines. The mainstream news outlets, from Al-Jazeera to CNN to the BBC to the ‘liberal’ press, led by The Guardian - who played on Syria the role New York Times played on Iraq - all relied on a handful of Syrian activists who manufactured Youtube videos for a wide international audience. But they created a contrary effect in Syria, where the mainstream media ‘war within’ narrative was exposed as divorced from reality, after Syrians turned to local information channels and saw the “developments on the ground” as they unravelled in Aleppo.
And this is key
The take over of Aleppo by rebels amounted to a national tragedy and was a turning point in the war. The fate of ‘Syria’s beating heart’, burned, pillaged and reduced to rubble, shocked Syrians from all sects, and they understood. The silent majority started to feel threatened by the revolution, increasingly expecting the government and the army to protect them. Syria’s allies, Iran and Hezbollah on the side of the resistance (by which I mean resistance to imperialist proxy politics breeding war and divisions across the Middle East) and Russia, diligently playing its comeback as a power on the regional scene - did not waver. With the support of Syrians, the army went from defensive to offensive, and began accumulating hard fought successes – step by step – while the Qatari scenario; armed groups on the ground and fragmented opposition councils and coalitions, floundered. Finally, Israel’s air raids on Syria forced the resistance axis’ hand. Targeted by both rebels and Israel, Hezbollah mobilised in response to a two-pronged attempt to ‘choke the resistance’. The Syrian army went on the offensive in Qusair, to the heart of the armed opposition, supported by Hezbollah. That offensive turn wasn’t possible without Syrians developing an understanding of “developments on the ground” and “confidence in victory”. For Hezbollah, who surprised everybody by opening up about their involvement in Qusair, the cost of this involvement, on the Lebanese scene, is to be offset by the benefits of a decisive victory.
The road to Damascus and Geneva II: resistance and co-existence
Geneva II comes with a major shift in the Syrian crisis timeline. After two years of violence, the revolution is running out of steam. The opposition, faced with defeat, is in disarray as its core assumptions are exposed as falsehoods. There are challenges to regime-change in Syria that should be considered in Geneva II and that should be considered by the opposition, if it attends. The first is the resistance: geo-strategically, Syria is the heart of the resistance which would not let itself be choked and vanquished. There will always be resistance as long as foreign meddling produces injustice after injustice, the most enduring of which is Palestine. The Syrian opposition in exile was doomed from day one because it thought it could belligerently do away with Syria’s allies in the resistance.
 |
| A Free Syrian Army fighter runs for cover near Nairab military airport in Aleppo June 12, 2013.(Reuters / Hamid Khatib ) |
The second challenge is demographic: peaceful co-existence of religions in Syria is key to political stability. This is true, not only for Syria, but for the whole Levant. Any end to peaceful religious co-existence in the Levant will produce decades of political instability no matter who is in charge. Syrians inside Syria, and the people of the Levant in general, know very well the equation for co-existence. There are strong indications that the Muslim Brotherhood instigators of the Syrian revolution ignored other sects because they falsely believed the time for their Agenda had come for Syria, not because Syria was ready, but because the so-called Arab Spring had brought Islamists to power in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Al-Jazeera and the infamous Qaradawi framed the revolution in sectarian terms from the beginning; Qaradawi incited Sunnis to topple Assad, a “prisoner of his own religion” on the Qatari channel, trapping the revolution in sectarian rhetoric. This rhetoric was rejected by Syrians, including the majority of Sunnis, who are used to co-existence. And it was from this rejected sectarianism that the violence was imposed – against a popular momentum for peaceful change. For a solution to emerge in Geneva II, sectarianism and any pro-western agenda must be rejected in favour of resistance and co-existence, where sects are assured of a future and the resistance is given air to breath. For this reason, the current Saudi-Qatari-US sponsored opposition is irrelevant to the future of a peaceful Syria. Not only it has no popular basis in the country but it has also failed to recognize that contemporary Syrian society’s core value-system is based on resistance and co-existence. Whatever appeasement and assurances the opposition offered Syria’s sects and the resistance - and they were really few -, have been nullified by the company it keeps and by the actions of the armed groups it endorses on the ground. The attempt at rapid and violent regime change in Syria has failed because of them. Geneva II comes at an opportune moment. Expect more conversions on the road to Damascus.
Sonia Mansour Robaey for RTSonia Mansour Robaey is a neuroscientist who teaches Philosophy and Ethics. She tweets on the Levant at @les_politiques and on Ethics and Philosophy at @SoniaMRobaey
Turkey threatens to deploy Army against protesters, dubs unions strike ‘illegal’
 |
| Anti-government protesters demonstrate in central Ankara on June 17, 2013 (AFP Photo / Adem Altan) |
Turkish government said it could deploy armed forces to quell anti-government protests. It also called the nationwide general strike announced by unions “illegal.” In Ankara the police have blocked the striking workers, threatening them with use of force.Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc on Monday warned the anti-government demonstrators that the army could be used if they don’t stop their protests.“Our police, our security forces are doing their jobs. If it’s not enough then the gendarmes will do their jobs. If that’s not enough ... we could even use elements of the Turkish Armed Forces,” Arinc told Turkey’s state-run TRT television, as quoted by Reuters.Meanwhile, water cannon-backed riot police have stopped a thousand-strong march of trade union workers in the Turkish capital, Ankara. The police threatened the workers with force if they didn’t give up their advance towards the city’s Kizilay district, where fierce clashes were going on yesterday.“Those of you on the streets must stop blocking the streets. Do not be provoked. The police will use force,” they shouted through megaphones.However, Turkish trade unionists kept calling for strikes and marches in cities like Istanbul, despite government threats.
 |
| Anti-government protesters demonstrate in central Ankara on June 17, 2013 (AFP Photo / Adem Altan) |
Five Turkish trade unions, including the 240,000-member-strong public sector union confederation KESK, have announced a nationwide strike on Monday, June 17 in protest of police violence at Taksim.“There is an attempt to bring people on to the streets through illegal protests like a strike. I want to state that it will not be permitted,” was Interior Minister Muammer Guler’s, response as quoted by AFP.On Sunday, the Ankara governor’s office said it was banning all downtown demonstrations from June 16, and threatened protesters with immediate police intervention.Clashes have been reported on Monday in the northwestern Turkish city of Eskisehir. The police have fired tear gas and peppered water to disperse crowds of protesters, and then demolished hundreds of their tents, Dogan news agency reported.In Istanbul, the police arrested 441 people during violent street clashes overnight, the city’s bar association has said. Riot police raided and chased groups of protesters marching towards the landmark Taksim Square on Sunday, using rounds of tear gas and water cannon to prevent them from regrouping.
EU: 'We watch with concerns'
Turkey’s tough response to the protests has triggered concerns among the EU officials, fuelling doubts as the country’s suitability for admission to the bloc.“Turkey needs de-escalation and dialogue, not continuation of excessive use of force against peaceful protesters. We watch with concerns,” European Union enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele tweeted overnight.
 |
| Protesters escape from a water cannon as they clash with police during an anti-government demonstration in Ankara on June 16, 2013 (AFP Photo / Adem Altan) |
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she is “appalled, like many others” with the developments in Turkey.“What’s happening in Turkey at the moment is not in line with our idea of the freedom to demonstrate or freedom of speech,” Merkel told the German broadcaster RTL.Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has bluntly responded to such concerns by saying “know your place” to the EU institutions at his AK party’s Istanbul rally on Sunday.Erdogan has said there is “no honesty” and “no respect for democracy” in European Parliament, referring to the EP statement which has condemned the Turkish police brutality against peaceful protesters.
Protesters who return to Taksim are terrorist supporters – Turkish minister
Activists returning to Taksim Square will be considered “supporters or members of a terror group,” Turkey’s EU minister told local media. This comes after police bulldozed the tent camp in Gezi Park in one of the worst nights of violence in Istanbul.“From now on the state will unfortunately have to consider everyone who remains there a supporter or member of a terror organization,” EU Minister Egemen Gagis said in an interview with Turkish broadcaster AHaber on Saturday night. He requested that all the activists returned to their homes.
“Our prime minister has already assured [activists] about their aim with the protests. The protests from now on will play into the hands of some separatist organizations that want to break the peace and prioritize vandalism and terrorism,” stressed Gagis.
PM Tayyip Erdogan, who has been the target for many of the complaints of the protesters, appeared to take a more compromising approach to the demonstrators on Saturday. He agreed to postpone the reconstruction plans for Gezi Park (located beside Taksim Square) that initially riled activists.
However, later in the evening he announced in a speech to his supporters in the Justice and Development Party (AK) that all the protesters must be “evacuated.”
What followed was reported by many to have been one of the most violent nights since the unrest began two weeks ago. Riot police moved into the Square taking on half an hour to disperse the activists gathered there, using tear gas and carrying riot shields.
 |
| Turkish protesters rally on John F. Kennedy street near the US Embassy in Ankara early on June 16, 2013, calling for the governemt to resign. (AFP Photo) |
Clashes then began to erupt at different spots around the city, with activists scuffling with officers. Witnesses claimed they were chased into hotels and accused the police of pelting them with tear gas even there.“They excessively use violence and tear gas against medical personnel and injured people, they target doctors who voluntarily support the health units healing the injured,” human rights activist Dr. Sebnem Korur Fincanci informed RT from Turkey.Some protesters ripped up paving slabs and used debris to create makeshift barricades to impede officers.
Meanwhile in Taksim Square bulldozers cleared away all traces of the past two weeks of protest and police took control of the roads leading up to the square. The governor of Istanbul confirmed that 22 people had been taken into custody in connection with the protests and stressed that anti-government gatherings are banned in Taksim Square and the surrounding area.
Protesters have targeted Erdogan with their demonstrations, alleging he has become increasingly authoritarian in his administration of Turkey. In addition, many complain that his party thrusts conservative Islamist values upon a secular state.Separately in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Sunday police broke up a number of protesters near the Kizilay Square with water cannons and tear gas.Officers initially stopped a convoy of mourners as they prepared to lay Ethem Sarisuluk, allegedly shot dead by police in a protest, to rest.Austin Mackell, a journalist specializing in Middle Eastern affairs, characterized the unrest as an urban phenomenon made up of secular Western Turks who are used to having a strong voice in political matters. He stressed that the rise of a Muslim-orientated government had curtailed their say in government affairs and warned if the protesters did not unify the movement would quickly be extinguished.“There is a real danger that if the Gezi kids don’t get their act together that what they’re going to do will benefit the generals and the old-school secular authoritarians,” said Mackel to RT.
So far over 700 people have been injured in the upheaval in Turkey and at least five have been killed.
