Riot police use tear gas to disperse protesters in TurkeySeptember 13, 2013 - 13:28 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Riot police used tear gas to disperse pockets of anti-government demonstrators in several Turkish cities for a third night and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan vowed to stamp out what he described as efforts to "create chaos," Reuters said. Officers backed by armored vehicles and water cannon played cat and mouse into the early hours of Friday with groups of youths in the streets of Kadikoy, on the Asian side of Istanbul, dismantling their makeshift barricades of garbage and rubble. There were similar protests in Ankara and reports on social media of unrest in the Mediterranean coastal cities of Antalya and Antakya, but the troubles were not on the same scale as the weeks of rioting which rocked Turkey in June and July. Protests have rumbled on intermittently since the summer, but intensified again this week after a 22-year old man, Ahmet Atakan, died during clashes with police in Antakya, near the border with Syria, early on Tuesday. Atakan died after falling from a building, but investigations continue into the circumstances of his death. The summer protests presented one of the biggest challenges to Erdogan's rule since his Islamist-rooted AK Party first came to power a decade ago, spiraling out of a demonstration in late May against plans to redevelop an Istanbul park into a broader show of defiance against his perceived authoritarianism. The latest unrest comes just six months before local elections, the start of a voting cycle which also includes a presidential election next August - in which Erdogan is expected to run - and parliamentary polls in 2015. According to BBC News, in May, protests over plans to redevelop Gezi Park in central Istanbul sparked a nationwide wave of protests, the most serious threat yet to the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The protest movement tapped into concern felt in some sections of Turkish society that Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government has become increasingly authoritarian and intolerant of dissent. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia provides info about arrested Armenian ex-MP Russian law enforcement agencies have provided information about the arrest of Tigran Urikhanyan. Lemkin Institue slams Pashinyan's “cryptic engagement with Genocide denial” The Lemkin Institute is alarmed over Pashinyan’s statements “questioning Armenia's legal basis to pursue justice against Turkey”. 41 detained as antigovernment protests continue in Yerevan 41 people were detained in Yerevan as people demanding Pashinian’s resignation stage campaigns of civil disobedience. Armenia votes for UN resolution granting Palestine new rights The U.N. General Assembly voted by a wide margin on May 10 to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine. |