Question Details

Will the Turkish government use the army to end protests?

Will the Turkish government use the army to end protests?

Asked by: Super Userkruijs in Politics » Western Europe
Settled on 07/03/2013 05:42 Settled by Super Userkruijs
Winning option:Not before the end of June Thousands of protesters returned to Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Saturday, demanding justice for a demonstrator slain by police fire during demonstrations that have swept Turkey this month. Police later forced the protesters out of the square, pushing them back using their shields.

Turkey has been hit by a wave of protests this month that were ignited by a brutal police crackdown on a peaceful environmental sit-in at a park near Taksim. The demonstrations soon turned into a wide outpouring of discontent with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government. Four people — three demonstrators and one police officer — have been killed and thousands injured.

The demonstrations have largely subsided in recent days, but thousands converged back on the square on Saturday, angry over a court decision this week that released a police officer from custody pending his trial for the killing of a protester in Ankara.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/thousands-gather-in-istanbuls-taksim-square-to-demand-justice-for-slain-protester/2013/06/29/bb3b56c6-e0e5-11e2-a0de-145598a7b2b7_story.html

Predictions

Yes
Yes
Not before the end of June
Not before the end of June

Background

The Turkish government says it could use the armed forces to end nearly three weeks of unrest by protesters in Istanbul and other cities.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told hundreds of thousands of supporters at a rally in Istanbul on Sunday that the protesters were manipulated by "terrorists". The government would use "all its powers" and the armed forces if necessary, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said on state-run television.

It is the first time the Islamist-rooted ruling party has raised the prospect of deploying the armed forces. The issue is sensitive as the army is seen as a bastion of secularism.

Mr Arinc told state-run TV that "the innocent demonstrations that began 20 days ago" had "completely ended". Any further demonstrations would be "immediately suppressed", he added. "Our police, our security forces are doing their jobs," he said. "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."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22938860

Find similar: turkey, army, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Taksim Square, Istanbul, Gezi Park

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