Protests and violent clashes between police and protesters continued for a third day across Turkey in several cities.
Although the situation had calmed in comparison to the previous two days, there were numerous clashes between police and protesters leading to a number of injuries and arrests Sunday morning.
However, in Istanbul’s Taksim Square, there were no police officers after being ordered away from the popular tourist destination by Prime Minister Tayip Erdogan’s government Saturday afternoon in the hopes that the situation would calm.
There have been no clashes between police and protesters in the square since.
On Sunday morning, Taksim square was littered with burned out and overturned cars, a result of there being no police to quell the violence. At least five city buses were damaged and looted as well as a news satellite van belonging to NTV, a Turkish channel.
A number of businesses along Istiklal Street, the main shopping thoroughfare in the Taksim area, were damaged and looted. Anti-government slogans were spray-painted along the stretch of road.
ATM cash machines were damaged as were bus stations, cafes, restaurants and other businesses.
“We have seen protests almost very weekend in this area for a long time,” said Baran Kurt, 28, a Dezi Park protester. “But destruction such as this I have never seen. This has grown into something much much bigger than Dezi Park. This is about democracy, this is about our rights being stepped on.”
The clashes erupted early Friday morning when police used water cannons and tear gas against peaceful protesters sitting-in in Dezi Park since last Tuesday demonstrating against the park’s planned destruction where a shopping mall and a historic military barracks are planned to be built.
By Saturday morning, news of the police’s heavy-handed tactics that led to the injury of at least 100 demonstrators, began to spread by social media throughout the country angering many. What began as a small protest in a little known park has turned into a nationwide effort to overthrow the Prime Minister with more than 100,000 protesters descending on the square by Saturday night.
“This is no longer about Dezi Park,” said Eda, a young female protester said. “This is now about democracy. We have no say in what the government wants to do and we are tired of it. Erdogan wants to make the country into a conservative one and that does not represent us all.”
Recently the Prime Minister announced plans to ban liquor sales between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. as well as public displays of affection among other measures.
“The situation with Syria is also aggravating many here, that believe it should have been handled differently,” she continued. “There is so much anger among so many for so many different reasons that this has all been building up in our hearts for a long time. We are fed up. What happened at Dezi Park was the final straw.”
By 6 p.m. Sunday evening, tens of thousands had descended on Taksim Square from all parts of Istanbul. At the time of going to press, there was no violence in Taksim Square, but protesters vowed that if police returned, clashes would erupt once again.
