TAKSIM SQUARE – Turkey on fire with protests against Islamic authoritarian government

Protests erupted in Turkey on Thursday of last week at Taksim Square in Instanbul. The government wants to tear down this ‘green’ park and build a shopping mall and a mosque in its place. But the Turkish people wanted their trees enough to stage a sit-in to protest the move.

But now the protests have become way more than just about a park; they’ve become about grievances with the Islamic authoritarian government in Turkey and they’ve spread to other cities like Ankara and Izmir. A friend of mine from Turkey tells me the protests are mainly secular demonstrations against the government but adds that other more violent groups with their own grievances have gotten involved to try and take advantage of the situation.

He also says that the local media in Turkey aren’t reporting on these protests. Of course that’s no surprise as the Islamic government has tried hard to get the media under its thumb in Turkey by jailing journalists that are critical of the government.

Here are a series of short videos from Euronews that document how these protests have changed from a sit-in about a few trees in Taksim Square to a national movement:

FRIDAY:

 

SATURDAY:

 

SUNDAY:

 

TODAY:

They Daily Mail also has a ton of great photos from the protests as well.


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