Turkish police fire tear gas in massive Istanbul protests
Andrew Chung Special to the Star
ISTANBUL—It was, on the surface, a dispute over sycamore trees and the fate of a modest urban park, but the heart of this ancient city became a ferocious battleground on Friday for the future of Turkey itself.
“We’re not here because of the park or the trees. The trees are only a symbol,” said Caglayan Bulut, 31, an energy trader who came after work to the famed Taksim Square to support the protesters. “The prime minister is trying to impose on the people an Islamic lifestyle. The protests are to protect Ataturk’s revolution.”
The anger toward the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan was palpable in the streets leading to the square, which serves for citizens here what Tahrir Square does for Egyptians in Cairo.
Friday’s protest was the largest so far against the government over its plans to replace a park in the square with a shopping mall modelled after an Ottoman-era army barracks called the Topcu Kislasi. Police forces brutally cracked down on peaceful protesters earlier in the day, including with water cannons, and continued to forcefully disperse them late into the evening. At least 12 people were injured, including at least one lawmaker.
Tear gas settled thickly on the city’s core and wafted into restaurants and hotels, choking tourists and patrons. One elderly woman screamed in pain from the gas; waiters rushed over to pour soothing milk down her face.
The city’s centre was paralyzed for hours. The atmosphere grew tenser as the evening wore on, as protesters became bolder in confronting authorities. They frequently sang the Youth Anthem, celebrating the Turkish War of Independence.
Demonstrations spread to other cities, where protesters denounced what they called the government’s increasingly authoritarian tendencies.
Erdogan’s government has in recent years chipped away at the country’s aggressively secular traditions so central to the vision of its founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
The government has been increasingly viewed with suspicion among a vast sector of Turkey’s citizens, whose own vision of modernity means to guard against religious interference in everyday life.
Bulut’s frustration toward the government drove him to have Ataturk’s name tattooed on his forearm in March. “I take my strength from this signature,” he said.
Two metres away from him, police loudly launched a series of gas canisters. He poured lemon juice on his hands and washed his face to counteract the tear gas.
“My heart is crying right now for my country.”
Following the skirmishes, an Istanbul court Friday halted the park redevelopment project until parties submitted their legal arguments to court, the semi-official Anatolian News Agency reported.
But the protests have taken on wider significance about Erdogan’s policies. The government has in recent years loosened restrictions on the head scarf in public institutions and universities. Secularists have accused the government of trying to Islamicize education. Last week the parliament passed a law restricting alcohol consumption. And earlier this week it began work on a new bridge it will name after an Ottoman sultan who remains a divisive historical figure in Turkey.
Erdogan and his party, which has held power for a decade, still have the support of religious Turks and a growing middle class of pious Muslims.
Earlier in the week he dismissed the protesters. He said the park destruction would go ahead “no matter what they do.”
As the protesters see it, Erdogan is slowly changing Turkish society, which is 99 per cent Muslim. “He is constructing the Turkey of 10 years from now,” Bulut said.
“But he won’t succeed,” he added. “This is our country.”
With files from Star wire services
