Anti-government protests in Istanbul
- 10 years ago
Anti government protesters took to the streets in Istanbul calling for Prime Minister Recep Tyyip Erdogan to stand down.
It is the latest move after a voice recording purportedly of the PM warning his son to hide large sums of money was uploaded onto a social media site.
It has been claimed there are more recordings. One was released on Wednesday allegedly implicating the mayor of Ankara.
“This money that was at the home of the leader of the ruling party belongs to the people of this country. We are here to protest against them. We no longer want this government to rule Turkey, “ said one protester.
Another added: “This is money stolen from the Republic of Turkey. This crowd is only a small drop in a large well. This small drop will grow day by day and become a river. Tayyip needs to get out of this country.”
The prime minister has called the recording, “treacherous” and with his supporters claimed the voices had been “montaged” to implicate them.
The street demos came on the day President Abdullah Gull approved a law which boosts government control over the appointment of judges and prosecutors.
Turkey’s newspapers are divided while opinion polls held before the recordings surfaced showed Erdogan’s popularity was holding up.
One political columnist wrote saying Turkey had become a nation of warring tribes and, referring to the release of the recordings added that “the mother of all political bombs” will serve to deepen those divisions.
It is the latest move after a voice recording purportedly of the PM warning his son to hide large sums of money was uploaded onto a social media site.
It has been claimed there are more recordings. One was released on Wednesday allegedly implicating the mayor of Ankara.
“This money that was at the home of the leader of the ruling party belongs to the people of this country. We are here to protest against them. We no longer want this government to rule Turkey, “ said one protester.
Another added: “This is money stolen from the Republic of Turkey. This crowd is only a small drop in a large well. This small drop will grow day by day and become a river. Tayyip needs to get out of this country.”
The prime minister has called the recording, “treacherous” and with his supporters claimed the voices had been “montaged” to implicate them.
The street demos came on the day President Abdullah Gull approved a law which boosts government control over the appointment of judges and prosecutors.
Turkey’s newspapers are divided while opinion polls held before the recordings surfaced showed Erdogan’s popularity was holding up.
One political columnist wrote saying Turkey had become a nation of warring tribes and, referring to the release of the recordings added that “the mother of all political bombs” will serve to deepen those divisions.