by Steven Argue
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has
announced an end to tolerance and took Taksim Square
by brute police force. Police force included a barrage of rubber bullets, water
cannons, and tear gas. Rubber bullets are at times lethal ammunition.
Seventy-three lawyers were also rounded-up as part of the crack-down on dissent
as well.
Up until now, Erdogan's idea of
tolerance has been brutal police repression that has left at least four people
dead, seriously injured many others, rounded up people and jailed them for
basic free speech including journalists and people who sent announcements on
Twitter, included joint attacks of supporters of the ruling AKP (Erdogan's
party) with the police attacking protesters, and included the documented
torture of 1,000 of the prisoners rounded up since the people began this
uprising against Erdogan's brutal and repressive regime.
Protests have held the square for
about two weeks, but protesters have fought off police attacks in the past.
In his chilling announcement before
the police attack on Taksim Square,
Erdogan proclaimed:
"To those who ... are at
Taksim and elsewhere taking part in the demonstrations with sincere feelings: I
call on you to leave those places and to end these incidents and I send you my
love. But for those who want to continue with the incidents I say: 'It's over.'
As of now we have no tolerance for them. Not only will we end the actions, we
will be at the necks of the provocateurs and terrorists and no one will get
away with it."
Of course the true criminal is
Erdogan, and the real question will be if he gets away with it.
Down with Erdogan's brutal
Capitalist / Islamic Regime!
For the Building of a Revolutionary
Proletarian Party to Split the Military, Smash the Capitalist
State, And Carry Out a Socialist
Proletarian Revolution!
-Steven Argue of the Revolutionary
Tendency
The following article I wrote
explains much of what has been going on. (the general strike was two days and
is over for now, but the rest is current):
Turkey:
Workers Begin General Strike as Protests and Government Repression Continue
by Steven Argue
Video of 73 lawyers being
rounded-up by Erdigon's police today as part of his announced crackdown on
dissent: