Turkish president calls for calm and ‘maturity’ as Istanbul seethes

Turkish President Abdullah Gül called on the government and security authorities Saturday to act with sensitivity, common sense, and “maturity” following two days of anti-government protests that some have quickly dubbed the “Turkish Spring.”

Gül called for police to avoid the violent scenes Turkey has witnessed over the last several days, Hurriyet reported, as hundreds remain hospitalized after a police crack-down, which began Friday at dawn, on peaceful protesters demonstrating against a planned demolition at Taksim Gezi Park in central Istanbul. Over 900 people have been arrested, according to the Turkish Interior Ministry.

“Our security forces should pay utmost attention and be proportionate while performing their duties and should not let such distressing images emerge,” Gül added.

The Turkish president said the protests have reached a “worrisome level” and urged for cooler heads to prevail in order to ease tensions.

“What’s more important is to be able to discuss [issues] in a civilized manner. To be open to dialogue, to be able to lend an ear to different opinions. In a democratic country, reactions should be made in a way that will not allow room for abuse, with common sense and calm. At the same time, officials should also put more effort into lending an ear to different thoughts and concerns,” Gül said.

The Turkish Interior Ministry on Saturday warned that police officers who will be found to have used tear gas abusively will be prosecuted.

“Due legal action will be launched into personnel who are determined to have used disproportionate force,” the ministry said in a statement.

The following video, posted to YouTube Saturday, shows an armored vehicle charging at a crowd, followed by the startled shouts of witnesses.

http://youtu.be/h_0AoL72Evw

On Saturday afternoon, Turkish police began to retreat from Taksim Square, the main Istanbul square, taking away barricades and allowing in tens of thousands of protesters, in an apparent bid to end the tensions.

Some protesters hurled objects at the withdrawing officers and police vehicles, prompting the officers to fire several rounds of tear gas to push back the crowds and resume pulling out of Taksim Square, the private Dogan news agency reported.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said the protesters threw fireworks at police. According to Today’s Zaman, police unleashed tear gas and water cannons against protesters trying to reach the park on Saturday.

Earlier, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on demonstrators to end their protest, but remained defiant about countering the gatherings, saying that the government would press ahead with the redevelopment plans at Taksim Square that sparked the demonstrations.

In a televised speech, Erdogan said police may have used tear gas excessively while confronting protesters and said this would be investigated. But he added that the protesters didn’t represent the majority of Turks and accused them of raising tensions.

According to witnesses in Istanbul, Turkish police forces Friday attacked protesters violently with tear gas and water cannons, directly targeting their faces and bodies. Human rights groups claim hundreds of people were injured in the scuffles with police that lasted through the night.

The demonstration against redevelopment of the park adjoining Taksim Square has turned into a wider protest against Erdogan, who is seen as becoming increasingly authoritarian, and has spread to other Turkish cities despite a court decision to temporarily halt the demolition of the park. A human rights group said hundreds of people were injured in scuffles with police that lasted through the night Friday-Saturday.

At Taksim, protesters chanted slogans against Erdogan’s government and called on him to resign.

In the capital Ankara on Saturday, police clashed with protesters who gathered at a park close to Erdogan’s office.

The dawn raid by security authorities Friday ignited a furious anti-government protest that took over Taksim, the city’s main square, culminating in what Turkish Facebook users described as a “massacre” which unfolded amid clouds of tear gas.

Istanbul residents on Saturday posted photos and videos of bruised and bloodied protesters, of civilians wearing gas masks and surgical masks to protect them from police offensives, and of security forces using pressurized water and tear gas to keep them in check.

A video, published on Facebook earlier Saturday, shows police firing tear gas canisters at protesters, some of whom hurl them back, and young men and women helping each other cope through the hail of smoke.

A live feed from Taksim Square, showing events as they unfold, has been made available by the Turkish news agency DHA.

On social media, powerful photos from the scenes in Istanbul were being published at breakneck speed.

AP contributed to this report.