REPORT: Davutoglu to Kerry: Turkey not a 'second-class democracy'

A Turkish protest group demanded on Wednesday the government to abandon plans to redevelop an Istanbul park, and that it sack governors and police chiefs the group holds responsible for violence during days of clashes across Turkey.                      

Members of the Taksim Solidarity group told reporters they had delivered the demands - also including the release of arrested protesters, a halt to police use of teargas and the removal of obstacles to freedom of speech - to Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc at a meeting in the capital Ankara.                          
Earlier on Wednesday, Hackers said they had attacked Turkish government systems and obtained confidential details of staff in Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office in support of days of anti-government protest.                                                       

A source in Erdogan's office confirmed that staff email accounts had come under a phishing attack but said those affected had been cut off from the network.   
                                         
The activists, calling themselves Anonymous Turkey, said in a statement released via Twitter they had not released any phone numbers and would only share email passwords linked to accounts with no classified information.                        

This comes as anti government demonstrations entered a sixth consecutive day as police and protesters clashed in Ankara and Istanbul on Wednesday morning.                                              

Police fired tear gas and used water cannons in Turkey's two largest cities in a bid to disperse protesters, who continue to call for the resignation of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.                         
In Istanbul, protesters put up barricades close to the prime minister's offices forcing the police to intervene in a bid to disperse the crowds.                                    

Police fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets at demonstrators.                          

Police arrested at least one man and one women required medical assistance after feeling the effects of the tear gas.                                   

In Ankara, both the police and demonstrators were at a standoff for several hours before security forces deployed water cannons and tear gas at the crowd that had gathered.  
                                 
Demonstrators had formed a large number in Kizilay Square - the symbolic equivalent of Istanbul's Taksim Square, where a peaceful sit-in that launched a nationwide protest began Friday.                                 
Despite Turkey's deputy prime minister offering an apology on Tuesday for the government's violent crackdown on an environmental protest, Erdogan continues to dismiss the protesters as a fringe minority stirred up by the opposition.                    

Bulent Arinc, who is standing in for the prime minister while he is out of the country, said the crackdown was "wrong and unjust."                    

Protests have been directed at what critics say is Erdogan's aggressive and authoritarian style of governing.                                       

Many accuse him of forcing his conservative, religious outlook upon the people in this mainly Muslim, but secular nation.                                  

Erdogan rejects the accusations, says he respects all lifestyles.                                    

This as Turkey's state-run news agency said that police have detained 25 people for "spreading untrue information" on social media and provoking protests.    
                                     
The Anadolu Agency said that these people were detained in the city of Izmir for allegedly "inciting the people to enmity and hate." It said police were still looking for 13 others.    

Tens of thousands of Turks have joined anti-government protests expressing discontent with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 10-year rule.                                              

Turkey's main broadcast media have been criticized for shunning the coverage of police brutality at the protest onset on Friday. Many people turned to social media to keep up to date with the developments.                         

Erdogan, who has dismissed the protests as demonstrations organized by an extremist fringe, has referred to the social media as "the worst menace to society."           
                           
On another note, a diplomat at the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Minister Ahmet Davutoglu contacted US Secretary of State John Kerry and discussed with him the recent statements issued by Washington expressing concern over Turkey's mass anti-government protests.           

The Turkish diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Davutoglu told Kerry that Turkey is not "a second-class democracy."      

The diplomat quoted Kerry as saying that protests are not "extraordinary", comparing them to the Occupy Wall Street movement that erupted in the United States in 2011.
                          
Clashes between police and demonstrators have been severe at times since the demonstrations erupted five days ago where, according to a human rights group, injuring at least 1,300 people.                

The Turkish Human Rights Association said some 3,300 people nationwide were detained during the protests, although most have since been release.


REUTERS/AP


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