Troubles in Turkey

From Yahoo News; Turkish police fire tear gas in worst protests for years;

From fakfufon;

From Abbas Karakaya, who was KU student and faculty--

 On May 30, 2013, at 11:31 AM, abbas karakaya wrote:
 Diary of Occupy Taksim,
 Day 4th, May 30th Thursday 2013, Istanbul
 The Occupy Taksim Movement of Istanbul- started this past Monday at Taksim Gezi Parki- is fast becoming a symbol of [the] popular resistance to the neo-liberal policies and austerity measures of pro-capitalist and conservative Sunni AKP government.
 The increase in the number of protesters since Monday clearly shows this growth: from twenty environmental activists who managed to stop a bulldozer [illegally] excavating the Gezi Park on Monday night to five or six thousand protesters gathered at the Gezi Park two days later.
 The government did not like the Occupy Taksim protesters who oppose their park being sold off to build a shopping mall and a residence or hotel as the so-called Taksim Pedestrianisation Project (TPP) assumes. So, it did not take long for the government to carry out a harsher attack on the protesters on Thursday, May 30th, the fourth day of the protest.
 The Istanbul police force began their attack on protesters early this morning towards five AM, during twilight hours when protesters were resting in their tents. According a young protester’s account, two lines of policemen lined up on the Western- and Easternmost parts of the park where they could attack the protesters in two directions and force them evacuate the park.
 First, the policemen threw stones at the protesters, whose only response was to sit arm-in-arm in circles to protect themselves from the stones. This initial attack was followed by heavy doses of tear gas which covered the park in seconds and led the protesters to leave the park without their belongings (e.g., tents, musical instruments). 
 As this happened, the excavators headed to the South end of the park to start their illegal excavation, whose purpose is to create space for a road which does not exist in the TPP approved by the Istanbul Municipality Construction Offices. Once the park was evacuated, it was surrounded with fully armed policemen and TOMAs (the Mass Incident Intervention Vehicle); the illegal excavation project in the park started and lasted two hours until a PM Sirri Sureyya Onder reached the park at 7.45 AM.

 Onder stopped the demolition of the park by stepping on the piles of excavated dirt and standing between the bulldozers which eventually disappeared the scene.
 One protester who received heavy kicks from the police was hospitalized. It was reported that his testicles were incurred; he later had an operation at Sisle Etfal Hospital near Taksim. One Greenpeace activist who lay in front of a bulldozer was forcibly removed and arrested. 
 Some tents and grass were ignited and burned by the gas bombs.
 Strangely, police officials reported the protesters themselves burnt their own tents, and unfortunately, mainstream media used this misinformation.
 Please follow my diary to get honest accounts of the Occupy Taksim. I will try to update as much as I can.
 On May 30, 2013, at 10:15 AM, abbas karakaya wrote:
 Diary of Occupy Taksim,
 Day 4th, May 30th Thursday 2013, Istanbul
 The Occupy Taksim Movement of Istanbul which has started this week Monday at Taksim Gezi Parki is fast becoming the symbol of the popular resistance to the neo-liberal policies and austerity measures of pro-capitalist and conservative Sunni AKP government. The increase in the number of the protesters since Monday midnight clearly shows this growth: from twenty environmental activists who managed to stop a bulldozer excavating the Gezi Parki without any legal permit on Monday night to five to six thousand protesters gathered at the Gezi Parki which is in the Taksim neighborhood last night (Wednesday night). The government did not like the Occupy Taksim protesters who do not want their park being sold off to build a shopping mall and a residence or hotel as the so-called Taksim Pedestrianisation Project assumes. So, it did not take long for the government to carry on a harsher attack on the protester on the fourth day of the protest, May 30th Thursday.