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Anti-Government Demonstrations Resume in Turkey

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Planned urban redevelopment of Istanbul’s Taksim Square has sparked hundreds of demonstrations over several days in Turkey.
Planned urban redevelopment of Istanbul’s Taksim Square has sparked hundreds of demonstrations over several days in Turkey.
The third day of anti-government demonstrations occurred on Sunday as tens of thousands took to the streets in four of Turkey’s biggest cities, Israel National News reported.

While arrests have continually occurred in the course of the demonstrations, the protestors have been undaunted, with hundreds protesting in Istanbul’s Taksim Square while more than 1,000 arrests took place across the country on Sunday, the report added.

The atmosphere was such that the protestors danced while chanting for the resignation of Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan while, in some areas, police used tear gas and water cannons to keep the crowds away from Erdogan’s office, Israel National News further reported.

But the protestors were not discouraged. Al Jazeera reported, according to Israel National News, that the protestors employed a mechanical digger and trucks to penetrate the forming police lines.

The demonstrations have taken place since Friday in 67 cities, claimed Muammer Guler, Istanbul’s interior minister, Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper reported, according to Israel National News.

Erdogan has responded to the demonstration by both claiming his innocence and imploring his people to relax.

“They call me a dictator,” he said Sunday. “If they liken a humble servant to a dictator, then I am at a loss for words.”

“If you love this country, if you love Istanbul, do not fall for these games,” he added, Israel National News reported.

While the protests began as part of an effort to halt a redevelopment of a park in Istanbul, it has transformed into a larger protest against Erdogan’s government, according to VOA News.

Before heading on a four-day trip to North Africa on Monday, Erdogan asserted that the demonstrations were being led by a group of “secularist enemies” who do not accept the governance of his Islamist AKP party, which has secured office during the last three elections, the report added.

“This is a protest organized by extremist elements,” Erdogan said at a news conference before his trip, according to Reuters. “We will not give away anything to those who live arm in arm with terrorism.”

These “secularists,” however, claim the government has grown “increasingly authoritarian” in recent years, according to VOA.

But despite their protests, the AKP party has “overseen an economic boom and raised Turkey’s profile in the region,” Reuters reported.

The complaints against Erdogan include both his religious and political agendas. Religiously, some see the prime minster as working to infuse a secular government with a religious undertone; for example, some consider growing restrictions on alcohol sales to bear this religious element, Reuters reported. Politically, some have grown upset with Erdogan’s efforts in support of the Syrian rebels and against Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.

The event that sparked the protests, however, represents growing disappointment with Turkey’s economy, where the redevelopment project reflected what some see as the upsetting redistribution of wealth that has followed Istanbul’s’ latest economic boom, Reuters further reported.

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