Tens of thousands cheer Turkish PM’s return after protests

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Thousands of supporters welcomed back Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an from a North African tour on Friday in a show of strength after a week of violent anti-government demonstrations across the country.

Erdo?an addressed crowds from an open-top bus at ?stanbul airport in a speech also broadcast live on television, as supporters, who had blocked roads to the airport for hours, chanted his name.

“We stood strong, but we were never stubborn … We are together, we are unified, we are brothers,” Erdo?an told tens of thousands of his ruling party faithful.

“They say I am the prime minister of only 50 percent. It’s not true. We have served the whole of the 76 million from the east to the west,” he said, referring to his election win in 2011, when he took 50 percent of the vote.

“Together we are Turkey. Together we are brothers,” he said, adding “We have never endeavored to break hearts. We are in favor of mending hearts.”

But he soon became more combative.

“We have never been for building tension and polarization. But we cannot applaud brutality,” he said.

In his last speech in Tunisia before flying to Istanbul, Erdo?an had said that terrorist groups were involved in the protests, saying they had been identified.

In a twist, Erdo?an implied that bankers were also part of a conspiracy that was fuelling the protests. He added that the flames of dissent had been fanned by other groups too.

“Those who call themselves journalists, artists, politicians, have, in a very irresponsible way, opened the way for hatred, discrimination and provocation,” he said.

Anti-government protesters also gathered in their thousands in central ?stanbul and Ankara awaiting a speech that could appease or aggravate the crowds after a week of violent unrest.

Some of the demonstrators in ?stanbul’s Taksim Square chanted “Tayyip resign”, while others sang and danced. In Ankara’s Ku?ulu Park, thousands chanted anti-government slogans, sang the national anthem and swigged on beer.

What began as a campaign against planned construction on a leafy park in a corner of Taksim Square has grown into an unprecedented display of public anger overgovernance of Erdo?an and his conservative AK Party.

Police backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters have clashed with groups of protesters night after night, leaving three dead and some 4,000 injured, while thousands of Erdo?an’s opponents have massed peacefully in Taksim, surrounded by barricades of torn-up paving stones and street signs.

“It’s all up to Erdo?an and what he says right now. He will decide the fate of this resistance, whether it will calm (down) or escalate,” said Mehmet Polat, 42, a ship captain who has not worked all week, coming instead to protest at Taksim.

“These people have been here for days. He has to understand it is for a reason,” he said.

Erdo?an has so far struck a defiant tone. Speaking in Tunis on Thursday, he condemned the “burn and destroy” tactics of some of those involved in the protests, and promised to press ahead with the plans for Taksim that triggered the unrest.

“If you say: ‘I will hold a meeting and burn and destroy,’ we will not allow that,” he told reporters after meeting his Tunisian counterpart. “We are against the majority dominating the minority and we cannot tolerate the opposite.”

He said that “terror groups”, including one that claimed responsibility for a Feb. 1 bombing at the US Embassy in Ankara, were manipulating the crowds. Seven foreigners were among those arrested, he said.

The protesters are of a variety of political stripes, including far leftists, nationalists, environmentalists and secular Turks, and their numbers at Taksim have swollen at points to more than an estimated 100,000.

But despite the unrest, Erdo?an remains by far Turkey’s most popular politician, his assertive style and common touch resonating with the conservative heartland.

His AK Party has won an increasing share of the vote in three successive elections and holds around two thirds of the seats in parliament. A man who rarely bows to any opposition, he clearly has no intention of stepping down and there are no obvious rivals inside or outside his party.

Still, he faces a challenge in calming the protests without appearing to lose face.

“Erdo?an cannot backtrack now. It would mean defeat,” said Ali Ayd?n, 38, a car dealer in the Tophane neighbourhood of ?stanbul, a conservative bastion in the mostly Bohemian district around Taksim Square. “Weakness would destroy the party.”

His plane landed around 01:45 a.m. on early Friday at ?stanbul Atatürk Airport.

Most of the Cabinet ministers were present at the airport to greet the prime minister.

The continuing protests against government present a daunting challenge for the prime minister.

The crowd chanted slogans for support for police which has been on the spotlight for excessive use of force against protesters.

The crowd also chanted slogans like ‘Stability, peace, order, fraternity, and etc.’

source: http://www.todayszaman.com

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