With a grand piano, Turkish protesters party in square

11 years ago | Posted in: Latest Politics News | 594 Views

Hundreds of demonstrators chanted and sang in ?stanbul’s Taksim Square early on Thursday, defying an order to end almost two weeks of protests against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.

The deputy chairman of Erdo?an’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Hüseyin çelik, said late on Wednesday that the protesters should withdraw from Gezi Park, a leafy corner of the square where they have set up a ramshackle settlement of tents.

A heavy-handed police crackdown on Gezi Park nearly two weeks ago triggered an unprecedented wave of protest against the perceived authoritarianism of Erdo?an and his AK Party, drawing in a broad alliance of secularists, nationalists, professionals, unionists and students.

Riot police looked on from the fringes as crowds mingled late into the night, some protesters chanting and dancing, others applauding a concert pianist who took up residence with a grand piano in the middle of the square.

It was a surreal contrast to the scene 24 hours earlier, when tear gas sent thousands scurrying into side streets before authorities bulldozed barricades and reopened the square to traffic for the first time since the troubles began.

source: http://www.todayszaman.com

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