Showing posts with label Ankara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ankara. Show all posts

Wednesday 22 July 2015

Bestepe People's Mosque for Turkey's people

English: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister ...
English: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of Turkey at Çanakkale Türkçe: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Başbakanı (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday July the 3rd inaugurated a mosque on the grounds of his gigantic palace complex and opened it to the public in an apparent effort to stave off more criticism over his spending.

Erdogan, who has been accused of squandering state resources by building the grandiose 1,150-room presidential palace, dedicated the mosque to the people at the opening ceremony, naming it the "Bestepe People's Mosque."
The new mosque, with four 60 meter-high (200 feet) minarets, can accommodate up to 3,000 worshippers and is one of Ankara's largest. Erdogan described its design as a fusion of architectures from the Ottoman and Seljuk eras.

The president has dismissed criticism over his expenditure and has recently moved away from calling the presidential premise a "palace," using the term "presidential complex" instead. He insists that the complex belongs to the people and that he is its "temporary occupant." Officials have said that a congress hall and one of Turkey's biggest libraries, which are under construction at the site, will also be open to the public.

The ruling party, founded by Erdogan, lost its parliamentary majority in last month's elections, in a blow to Erdogan's ambitions to turn the largely ceremonial presidency into an executive post.
Opposition parties had made the palace a theme of their election campaigns, forcing him on the defensive and to even deny that it had gold-plated toilet seats. In a television interview, he also justified the construction by saying his old office when he was prime minister was infested with cockroaches.

Last year, Erdogan shrugged off criticism that the complex was illegally built on protected land saying: "Let them knock it down if they have the power."

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2015 July 27 update

Tuesday 4 June 2013

Unprecedented violence against protesters and social protest

A festival atmosphere prevailed Monday in Taksim Square on the fourth day of protests set off by a brutal police crackdown of a protest against removing park trees that has spiraled into massive anti-government demonstrations.

The protests have spread to 67 of Turkey's 81 provinces, according to the semi-official Anadolou News Agency. On Monday, a confederation of unions claiming some 240,000 members added its voice to the anti-Erdogan chorus, saying it would go on strike against what it called the "fascism" of Erdogan's ruling party.
Português: Vista da Praça Taksim à noite
Taksim square in peaceful days (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


Erdogan dismissed the street protests as organized by Turkey's opposition and extremist groups and angrily rejected comparisons with the Arab Spring uprisings.
"We already have a spring in Turkey," he said, alluding to the nation's free elections. "But there are those who want to turn this spring into winter.
"Be calm, these will all pass," he said.

Tensions were high near police barricades. People wearing homemade gas masks and carrying sticks made their way down toward the Besiktas neighborhood, which acts as the front line between protester-controlled territory and police. Many had scrawled their blood types on their forearms with magic markers in case they are injured.

The fighting was fiercest in Besiktas near an Ottoman-era Dolmabahce Palace where the prime minister has his Istanbul office. Freelance photographer Dogan Emre was at the scene until about 2 a.m. Monday.
"Police fired hundreds of tear gas (canisters) and they didn't stop," he said. "There were many injured men and women and there weren't any ambulances. Civilians were helping the injured in a mosque. They used the mosque like a hospital."
By midday Monday the subway system had reopened and municipal workers were cleaning the streets. The smell of paint thinner was in the air as anti-government graffiti was scrubbed off storefronts.

The Turkish Medical Association claimed that at least 3,195 people had been injured in clashes Sunday and Monday. Only 26 of them were in serious or critical condition, it said. One protester, Mehmet Ayvalitas, died of his injuries, the association said.

The association reported that the bulk of the injuries occurred in Istanbul, where the protests began before spreading to Ankara, Izmir, Adana and other locations.
International groups including Amnesty International have criticized the police response as excessive. In Ankara Sunday night, a CNN crew witnessed authorities roughing up at least one protester. One police officer kicked a CNN videographer, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reported, and a CNN crew in Istanbul Sunday also witnessed bloodied protesters.




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Gevolgen van beperkingen van vrijheid in Turkijë

Vorige dinsdag begon in Istanboel een massaal protest met betogingen tegen plannen om op de plaats van een park in de binnenstad een kopie te laten verrijzen van het complex uit de tijd van het Ottomaanse Rijk. De protesten liepen uit op betogingen tegen het beleid van Erdogan.
Taksim Square, Istanbul
Taksim Square, Istanbul (Photo credit: Wikipedia)



De protesten breiden zich uit naar andere delen van het land, ook al hielden de Turkse televisie zenders het gebeuren uit de ether. Maar de mensne hopen via de sociale media meer mensen op te trommelen en op het gevaar te wijzen van de mogelijke islamisering en beperking van hun rechten, die de regering meer en meer door voert.

De afgelopen nacht is nogmaals op verschillende plekken in het land gevochten en kwam het tot confrontaties met de oproerpolitie.
Sommige kantoren van de regerende AK-partij zijn in brand gestoken.
Rond het centrale Taksim-plein in Istanboel, waar het geweld het hevigst was, wierpen demonstranten barricaden op om te proberen de politie te verdrijven. Er is veel traangas ingezet en sommige betogers spreken zelfs van het verboden Saron-gas. Wegen rond het kantoor van premier Erdogan werden afgesloten, zo meldt Reuters. Een demonstrant reed met een kleine graafmachine in op de politie; anderen demonstranten volgden. In een nabijgelegen moskee werden gewonden behandeld door medici. In het centrum van hoofdstad Ankara is de politie een winkelcentrum binnengevallen. Een paar honderd demonstranten die zich daar verscholen, zijn vastgehouden.


Demonstranten bij een vuur in hoofdstad Ankara. Op verschillende plekken in Turkije kwam het tot confrontaties met de politie. Foto AFP / Adem Altan
Demonstranten bij een vuur in hoofdstad Ankara. Op verschillende plekken in Turkije kwam het tot confrontaties met de politie. Foto AFP / Adem Altan


De premier die al tien jaar regeert heeft het land meer en meer tot een werkelijk islamitische in plaats van religie onafhankelijke staat gemaakt. Zijn autoritaire stijl, zijn conservatieve opvattingen over de islam en zijn politiek ten aanzien van Syrië stoten velen tegen de borst.

De Turkse regering is verder aan het afdalen naar grotere beperking van het volk. Vooral op het geestelijk vlak wil de regering duidelijk een strekking gaan aannemen die overeen komt met erg strenge islamitische waarden. Hierbij valt wel op dat de regering met twee maten en gewichten werkt. Zo wordt het alcohol gebruik aan banden gelegd, maar beseft men dat indien men in de hotels geen alcohol meer zou toelaten een heel deel van de toeristen en hun geld het land niet meer zou aandoen. En die financiële goudmijn zou de regering niet graag verliezen. Daar is het geld belangrijkere dan het geloof, maar ondertussen beperkt het wel zijn eigen landgenoten.

Men moet zich afvragen of de regering de stabiliteit wil bewaren die de afgelopen tien jaar is gegroeid en die heeft bijgedragen tot de economische welstand.
“Het is altijd verstandiger om het compromis en de verzoening van verschillende sectoren van de samenleving na te streven”, zegt bisschop Louis Pelâtre, apostolisch vicaris van Istanboel, in een interview met ‘Fides’ naar aanleiding van het recente en door de ordediensten keihard aangepakte straatprotest in Istanboel en elders in het land.

De bisschop stelt dat de kleine christelijke minderheid in Turkije niet rechtstreeks is betrokken bij de rellen en protesten tegen de regering. Volgens hem beging de regering van Erdogan de fout om de vooruitgang van het voorbije decennium te willen benutten om van bovenaf een islamisering op te leggen. Hij hoopt dat de sociale onrust de regering aanspoort om haar plannen te herzien. “Erdogan heeft de steun nodig van iedereen als hij wil blijven regeren.”

De apostolische vicaris gelooft niet in een open strijd. “De vergelijking tussen de rellen in Turkije en de conflicten in het Midden-Oosten gaat niet op.” Ook Erdogan vindt dat zulke vergelijking helemaal niet op gaat mist er volgens hem reeds vrijheid van stemmen en democratie bestond in zijn land.

Volgens de Turkse minister van Binnenlandse Zaken Muammar Güller zijn bij de demonstraties van de afgelopen dagen 173 gewonden gevallen, 58 burgers en 115 politieagenten. Volgens de vereniging van dokters in Ankara zijn er zaterdagavond bij de rellen in de hoofdstad alleen al 414 burgers gewond, van wie er 10 ernstige hoofdwonden hadden.
Volgens de minister zijn er sinds dinsdag 235 manifestaties geweest in 67 steden. De politie heeft volgens de minister 1.700 mensen aangehouden bij de manifestaties. Voor het grootste deel zijn die ondervraagd en daarna snel weer vrijgelaten.


Lees meer hier over:

‘Twee doden en duizend gewonden bij onlusten in Turkije’

Opnieuw onlusten in Turkije - 'extreem gewelddadige nacht' 
Opnieuw rellen met betogers in Ankara en Istanbul

Fotoverslag: Onlusten in Turkije
filmverslag: Onlusten in Turkije houden aan

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Monday 3 June 2013

Growing separation and problems in Turkey


AP567678613414.jpg
A man wears a makeshift gas mask during protests in Turkey on May 31, 2013 (AP)


In the early afternoon Friday, Turkish police surrounded a peaceful group of protesters, and, shortly after the end of Friday prayers, began to volley a slew of tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd. The protesters had been camped in Gezi Park -- a small leafy park wedged near the bustling Taksim square -- for days to prevent the ripping out of trees to make way for the building of a shopping mall. 
The number of protesters “suggest the birth of a new Turkey—a majority middle class that cherishes individual rights and the environment.

Protesters gathered in their thousands in Taksim Square in Istanbul again on Sunday.
The gathering was relatively peaceful after two days of Turkey's fiercest anti-government demonstrations for years.

Youths had lit fires and scuffled with police in parts of Istanbul and Ankara in the early morning but there was little violence by the afternoon.
Thousands of protesters had celebrated on Saturday night after police withdrew from Taksim Square, the focal point of nationwide protests against the government.
What had begun as an outcry against tree-felling in nearby Gezi park on Friday had snowballed into a broader protest against the government's increasingly intolerant, conservative agenda.

Since the first clashes on Friday the unrest has spread to dozens of other cities.
Interior Minister Muammer Guler claimed that 53 citizens and 26 police officers had been injured across the country.
He also said that police had arrested 939 protesters in more than 90 demonstrations in 48 cities.
Officials said a dozen people were being treated in hospital.
But Amnesty International reported two deaths and more than a thousand injured.


Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, who retains vast public support, especially among the conservative rural population that has slowly migrated to the city, all but ensuring victor, has chastised the protests, claiming that the hundreds of people were unfamiliar with Ottoman history, and that the projects would continue unabated. In turn, the police have been using tear gas to forcibly evict the protesters camped in the park. As the use of force has escalated, the protests have morphed from an occupy style movement into a larger-scale rebuke of the AKP's heavy-handed rule. The protests have now spread to Kocaeli, Edirne, Afyon, Eskisehir, Bodrum, Antalya, Aydin, Trabzon, Mugla, Mersin, Ankara, Adana, and Konya.


My Christadelphian brothers where this weekend under attack from two over drunk Turkish men and they broke their apartment door and they just could hold the door until Police came . Police came and blamed them to being in their country. They told them “if you have complaint from them come to Police office” but they suggested them to give up about this.

My brethren thought they could help them but when they went to the Police office they accused them to have stimulated them and released them before their eyes.

The bad news is that guys living in their apartment and they are not safe any more in Turkey. “This is the justice that we have here and our rights when we our refugees in Turkey .” they say. “I don’t blame any one and this world has so many suffering inside but i had so many of them in my life. This is just a beginning for us with this problem . Need your prayer and nothing more …” Mahan From Kayseri-Turkey

It is such a shame that the beautiful work Atta Turk had done is nearly all gone. The separation of state and religion would have been the best guaranty for building up a society where different people and different religions could live peacefully together.

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Find some photographs form the protests in Turkey: Protest


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