Demonstrations to prevent the demolition of a park on Istanbul's Taksim Square, which is due to be replaced with a shopping mall have entered their third day - as demonstrations continue to spread around the country.
As the protest continued Greenpeace activists released a video of the raid on the protest camp.
On the morning of 30th the tents where people slept were burnt and the tear gas was enough to create a fog-like atmosphere.
This morning again at 4 am police used tear gas at the break of dawn surrounding 1000 people staying the the park overnight.
However, the attack seems to have backfired, triggering more participation in the demonstrations during the day.
Gezi Park is a symbol of the resistance against the latest anti-environment currents occurring in the Turkish government. The government is completely disregarding the public’s demands, freedom of speech, and the environment in all its projects and investments.
The environmentalists condemned the cutting of trees in Gezi Park and the violent action undertaken against the activists who are camping to protect this area.
On the morning of 31st, there was been a press statement in front of Divan Hotel with the call of Taksim Solidarity. The Chamber of Medicine has announced that 6 people have head trauma and are in intensive care.
The protests are continuing and the police are trying to push back throwing gas bombs and pressurized water. And on the 1st of June, protests turned into a national issue and began in Ankara,İzmir,Adana,Mersin…all around Turkey.
Protests continue
The police withdrew from Taksim but continued to be very violent in other cities and other parts of Istanbul. Yesterday morning, the protestors, along with GP volunteers cleaned the mess in Taksim left after the clashes and cleaned the whole park, which was really impressive.
Last night in Besiktas area in Istanbul, there has been clashes until morning. People walked to the Bosphorus bridge from the asian side and the bridge was closed. Traffic blocked.
In Ankara and Izmir, police has been very brutal. A lot of injured and hundreds taken under custody. We have news that they are being released though.
Yesterday there was a huge crowd in Taksim and we opened a banner from our office building which is in Taksim area, in Istiklal street.
The Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has responded to the protests by blaming social media.
"There is now a menace which is called Twitter," Erdogan said. "The best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society."
