"Yesterday, ROAR was on the ground at the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul. During the day calls were made on social media for a protest at 7:00 PM, however, since none of the forums had agreed upon a protest, many people suspected a set-up by the government. This was confirmed by the incredible police presence, with hundreds of civilian cops preventing anyone from entering the park, and scores of riot cops taking positions on and around Taksim square. Even though towards the evening life on the busy Istiklal shopping street continued as usual, every single side street was occupied by cops in full riot gear. Around 8:00 PM the people gathered in Istiklal street, shouting slogans towards the police: "This is only the beginning! The struggle will continue!" ROAR witnessed the arrest and abuse of several protestors, one of which was caught on camera and can be seen here: youtube/watch?v=M9SuW7i2RJg&feature=youtu.be Clashes continued all night, with police using tear gas to chase protestors down one of the side streets at the end of which their colleagues would be waiting to pelt the people with rubber bullets. Reports say that about 40 people have been taken into custody. Around 4:00 AM some protestors started building barricades in Istiklal street, using building materials from a vacant building. All the ATM machines around the area were smashed and protestors tried to take down security cameras. When the police finally intervened with TOMAs and bulldozers to clear the barricades they were met with a shower of rocks thrown by the protestors. — #OccupyGezi protest 03/08/2013 (20 photos)
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 11:21:58 +0000
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