REPORT: Turkish deputy PM says could use army if needed to quell unrest

         
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said on Monday Turkey could deploy "elements of the armed forces" to help quell anti-government protests if needed, after more than two weeks of violent demonstrations in several cities.        

"Our police, our security forces are doing their jobs. If it's not enough then the gendarmes will do their jobs. If that's not enough ... we could even use elements of the Turkish Armed Forces," Arinc told Turkey's state-run TRT television.          

This as riot police backed by water cannons warned around 1,000 trade union workers to stop the blocking of a major avenue in the center of the capital Ankara or face intervention, a Reuters witness said.         

The workers were trying to march towards the central Kizilay district, waving flags and chanting slogans, as part of a national strike called by several labor groups in support of anti-government protests.          

"Those of you on the streets must stop blocking the streets. Do not be provoked. The police will use force," police officers shouted through megaphones as several water cannons were positioned a few hundred meters away.       

Earlier, the interior minister issued a stark warning to organizers of the one-day labor walkout that is aimed at maintaining pressure on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.         

"I am calling on public workers and laborers to not participate in unlawful demonstrations otherwise they will bear the legal consequences," Muammer Guler said. "Our police will be on duty as usual."         

Police on Monday maintained a lockdown on Taksim, the epicenter of more than two weeks of protests, by barring vehicles. However, as the work week began, authorities re-opened a subway station at the square that had been shuttered Sunday when protesters tried to regroup.         

Two of Turkey's largest labor movements urged members to walk off the job Monday afternoon and converge at the square.          

In Ankara overnight, riot police fired tear gas and water cannons against thousands of protesters, the latest violence in a more than two-week standoff that started as an environmentalist rally but later morphed into a broader protest against Erdogan's government. 

Five people, including a policeman, have died and more than 5,000 have been injured, according to a Turkish rights group.   


REUTERS/AP


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