Obama to Erdogan prior to protests in Turkey: "Listen here, comrade, take one for the team. Don't worry about your country. It's not important. We'll make sure your secret bank accounts in Switzerland are well managed. You're in good hands. I promise you. We can do this. Say it with me now: Yes we can destroy Syria. Yes we can destroy Turkey. Yes we can."
Turkey's Erdogan Gets Taste of His Own Medicine?
By Daniel McAdams
The Lew Rockwell Blog
June 1, 2013
After nearly a week of increasing public protests in Turkey, ostensibly over government plans to turn a last bit of green space in Istanbul into another shopping mall, matters became far more serious on Friday. Riot police descended on the protestors with various forms of tear gas (and possibly worse chemical and biological agents -- raw sewage?) and water cannon, blasting everyone and everything in sight including non-participants. When they caught protestors, they beat them violently and brutally, as can be seen in this video. Photographs show that police fired tear gas into crowded underground metro stations, leading to panic and worse. Istanbul looks like a war zone.
Today indications are that protests have only increased in number and fury in response to the violence with which they were met yesterday.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has come under increased criticism at home over his enthusiastic support for those fighting to overthrow the government in neighboring Syria. Turkish government support for the rebels came early and has included providing safe havens for the Islamist insurgents and safe passage into Syria from Libya, Yemen, and other countries of the insurgents' origin.
Continued. . .
