The tension rose a notch in the night. Turkish police used tear gas Saturday morning near the Taksim Square in central Istanbul to disperse hundreds of protesters in second day of violent protests against the Turkish government..Other incidents reported to Besiktas
After a long face-to-face with protesters who held a barricade in the Istiqlal Avenue, a pedestrian shopping street that leads to Taksim Square, the police fired a volley of tear gas to disperse the crowd . Other incidents were reported earlier in the morning in the Besiktas district, where a group of protesters came from the Anatolian side of the Turkish metropolis crossed a bridge over the dam and was dispersed by the police, Turkish media reported.
The protest, one of the largest directed against the Islamic-conservative power since taking office in 2002, is part of a demonstration against an urban development project challenged in Istanbul and several dozen wounded dozens Friday in Istanbul.
By late morning, the main roads leading to Taksim Square were barred by large police forces. After a day and a night of riots, this place famous for being one of the traditional appointment of protest in Istanbul, and the surrounding streets were littered with debris Saturday morning and shops have reopened their doors very carefully to residents and tourists. Dozens of protesters were injured in clashes on Friday, citing Amnesty International for its part "over a hundred" injured.
Political protest
The authorities gave no accurate count. Friday late afternoon, the governor of the city Huseyin Avni Mutlu merely indicate that 12 people remained hospitalized late in the day, including a woman who has a fractured skull, and at least 63 people were arrested.
The movement began Friday at dawn with the forceful intervention of the police to dislodge a few hundred activists who had occupied for three days Gezi Park in Taksim Square, in order to prevent the uprooting of 600 trees as part of an urban development project highly contested.
Rioted through social networks, community activists flocked to lend a hand to protesters and denounce the policy of the Islamic-conservative government in power since 2002. The clashes continued until dawn. "The trees, it's just the straw that broke the camel's back. People are sick and tired of everything this government is doing to them, "said the night a young protester.
By Friday evening, the challenge side of Istanbul has spread to other cities, such as Izmir (west), Antalya (south) or the capital Ankara, which are incident between the police to demonstrators who wanted march on parliament. Everywhere, the protesters denounced the repression in Istanbul and accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of violations of civil liberties.
Erdogan accused of trying to "Islamize" Turkish society
The political opposition has taken over these criticisms by flaunting the protesters. The chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), the main rival of the government, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Erdogan called the police to withdraw the streets of Istanbul. At the call of social networks and the CHP, a protest is planned for Saturday afternoon on the Asian side of Istanbul.
If the per capita income has tripled in Turkey since the coming to power of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2002, Erdogan is accused of authoritarian excesses and wanting to "Islamize" Turkish society. Last week, the passing of a law restricting the sale and consumption of alcohol has raised the ire of liberal circles. Silent on these events since Friday, the head of the government said on Wednesday it would not back down. "Do what you want, we decided," he shouted to his critics.
The fact that the prosecutor stood on a raised platform in the courtroom did not infringe the principle of equality of arms.
