Thousands March to Central Istanbul over Chemical Erdogan’s Crackdown

Thousands of people marched to central Istanbul late Saturday and early Sunday after a police crackdown earlier Saturday on anti-government protesters, which left at least 29 injured.

Police sealed off Taksim Square in the center of the city Saturday night as they stormed the adjoining Gezi Park, where protesters have been camping for more than two weeks.

An eyewitness reported that hundreds of people at the Asian Kadikoy district gathered to walk across the Bosphorus Bridge in the direction of the European side of the city. Police barred roads to prevent protesters reaching the Bosphorus bridge.

About 1,000 young people gathered in Besiktas district, less than 100 meters away from the office of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Many protesters also gathered at neighborhoods on the European side, such as Etiler and Mecidiyekoy, walking on the arterial roads disrupting the car traffic.

People banged pots from their houses while cars on the road sound their horns. Residents in the Gezi neighborhood have also gathered in the streets.

Erdogan on Saturday gave an ultimatum to protesters, giving them one day to end demonstrations.

“Everyone who enters Istanbul’s Taksim Square, heart of the nearly 20-day-long protests, will be considered a terrorist,” Turkey’s European Union Minister Egemen Bagis said in a televised interview on Saturday.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the major opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said that the police’s brutal operation against the Gezi Park protesters is a crime against humanity, accusing Erdogan of intending “to kill Turkey” because of his dictator mentality and personal ambition.

“Those who committed this crime will never be forgiven by the people, the history and humanity’s conscious,” Kilicdaroglu said, adding that civil servants will be counted as Erdogan’s partners in crime and will one day be taken before the court.

Protests started more than two weeks ago when a group of environmentalists gathered in Gezi Park in Istanbul to protest the government’s plans to build a replica of Topcu Barracks over the park as part of a Taksim urban renewal project.

On Wednesday, Erdogan proposed holding a municipal referendum in Istanbul on Gezi Park, moderating his stance against protesters.

He also called on the supporters of his ruling Justice and Development Party and other parties such as the Grand Unity Party and Felicity Party to rally in Ankara and Istanbul over the weekend.