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Opposition to Turkey’s Syria Policy Was Key in Sparking Demonstrations
5 juin 2013
(EIRNS)—The Turkish government’s policy in supporting the war against Syria sparked the mass protests that have spread throughout the country in the last week. An Istanbul-based source told EIR that the mass demonstrations are very much a response to the insane Syria policy of the current government. The car bombing which killed 56 Turkish citizens on May 11 in Hatay province, near the Syrian border, was just about the last drop in the population’s patience. The source warned that if the demonstrations continue into next week, then almost anything is possible, even a military coup. Image : © Nevit Dilmen The demonstrations are far more widespread than the Turkish media are reporting, where there has been de facto media censorship. The western media (such as the Washington Post and CNN), on the other hand, have had a field day reporting the turmoil, with lurid photos and headlines. According to sources in Turkey, there have not been huge demonstrations, as during the Arab Spring, only because people are afraid of the police repression. While only 10,000 people have gathered in Taksim Square in Istanbul, as many as 2 million people throughout Istanbul are participating in some sort of support demonstrations, mostly in their own neighborhoods. This takes the form of hundreds of people at a time gathering in the street in front of their houses, or banging pots and pans, shouting slogans, etc. After 9 p.m., the entire city becomes very noisy with such protest activity. The last time there were such widespread demonstrations was just prior to the military coup at the beginning of the 1980s. Moreover, demonstrators have named trees in disputed Getzi Park, in Taksim Square, after each of the 56 victims who died in the Hatay car bombings. Another 30 trees have been named after the 30 Turkish Kurds killed last year by the Turkish Air Force, who mistook them as members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Those participating in the demonstrations are not just the so-called secularists, but comprise a cross-section of the entire population, including, leftists, rightists, even Islamists who have become disillusioned with the ruling party. EIR’s source, who has no party affiliation, said even his daughter wants to go out and demonstrate, and he will not stop her. "The population is angry over the economy," the source said, pointing out that the high growth rate has only benefitted the rich, "But the Syrian policy was the last drop," he said. He said the perception in Turkey is that the Syria policy is a total failure, and now he sees the government needing to back off from its hard line.[DEA] |