Middle East Today: Turkey --- 1st Death as Protests Spread

Protest in the village of Ayvalik (pop: 40,000) on Tuesday

See also Syria Today: More Than 100 Claimed Deaths on a "Quiet" Monday
Monday's Middle East Today: Turkey --- Mass Protests and Clashes Move Beyond Istanbul

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Tonight's Protests

Thousands of protestors returned to Istanbul's Taksim Square on Tuesday night --- Turkish pipe music and singing blared over speakers as the crowd clapped and danced in a festive atmosphere.

In Ankara, residents carried out ther nightly protest of banging pots and pans, leaning from their windows, and marching in the street. Some waved red and white Turkish flags and drivers honked their horns, amid yells directed toward Prime Minister Erdogan: "Tayyip, resign!"

Protester at Kizilay Square in Ankara Hands Out Daisies to Police

Egypt: Court Convicts Non-Profit Workers

43 non-profit workers, including at least 16 Americans, have been sentenced to up to five years in prison after being convicted by an Egyptian court of illegally using foreign funds to foment unrest in the country.

Most of the Americans convicted have left the country but include Sam LaHood, son of the U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who received a five-year jail sentence alongside 26 other defendants.

The court also ordered the closure and seizure of the offices and assets in Egypt belonging to U.S. nonprofit groups for which many of the defendants worked, including the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute and Freedom House.

Turkey: Deputy PM Arinc Press Conference

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has urged Turkey’s trade unions not to disrupt the country’s unity and stability, adding “We are the government of all, trying to correctly read the protests and making self-criticisms.”

Arinc also conceded that the police’s excessive use of force exacerbated the protests and that there are lessons to be learned from the demonstrations. He told a press conference in Istanbul that police have now been advised to only use tear gas in self-defence, but that vandalism and destruction of property is not acceptable.

Commenting that the unrest is hurting the Turkish economy, he also expressed regret at the death of the protestor in Hatay and said that the government was open to peaceful demands from all sides.

Turkey: Protestors Close a Starbucks

Aaron Stein notes that protestors have forced the closure of a branch of Starbucks in Istanbul after it turned people away while police shot tear gas at the demonstration yesterday.

Protesters have closed down Starbucks because they refused to let people in when tear gas was flying #occupygezi twitter.com/aaronstein1/st…

— Aaron Stein (@aaronstein1) June 3, 2013

Turkey: Markets Show Signs of Recovery

Turkish investment markets are showing signs of recovery following the heavy losses experienced yesterday as a result of investor concern about the widespread anti-government protests.

The main Istanbul share index was up 3.87 percent at 79,965 points at 0716 GMT, having closed 10.47 percent lower yesterday. The lira strengthened to 1.8804 against the dollar from 1.8892 late on Monday, when it hit its weakest level since January 2012.

Turkey: Trade Union Declares Two-Day Strike

The left-wing Kesk trade union confederation, representing some 240,000 workers, has declared a two-day strike from Tuesday.

The confederation, representing 11 unions, declared, "The state terror implemented against entirely peaceful protests is continuing in a way that threatens civilians' life safety."

Iraq: Kurdish Leader Barzani "Last Chance for Agreement with Baghdad"

Masoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdish Regional Government, has said that Kurdistan will be forced to seek a "new form of relations" with the central government in Baghdad if negotiations fail to resolve disputes over oil and land.

"The current talks will be the last chance," Barzani said in an interview at his presidential office outside the Kurdish capital Erbil. "There has been a softening of their (Baghdad's) position, but practically speaking there has been no progress. Either we will be able to reach an agreement... or we will have to think of a new form of relations between the region and Baghdad."

Kurdistan had been locked in a months-long dispute with Baghdad over division of oil revenues. The province, defying the central al-Maliki Government, has signed contracts with companies such as Exxon Mobil, France's Total, and Chevron and is pursuing close ties with Turkey for development.

"Both sides [Turkey and Kurdistan] are determined to make progress in terms of this relationship," Barzani said. "When you have oil, oil will find its own way."

Jordan: Hundreds of Websites Blocked

The Press and Publications Department has confirmed that authorities have blocked 304 unregistered and unlicensed news websites to curb "sensationalised" reporting.

Another 102 sites remain on-line because they are licensed or seeking registration, the Department said.

Officials said a law had set a January 2013 deadline for site owners to "rectify their situation". However, many of the websites did not register in protest at "a government-led effort to restrict free speech online".

Turkey: Summary of Monday's Protests

With almost 2000 injured, the Turkish protests recorded their first death last night when Abdullah Comert, a young protestor in Antakya, was shot in the head.

Another protester, 20-year-old Mehmet Ayvalitas, was hit by a car on Sunday which ploughed into a crowd of demonstrators in the Mayis district of Istanbul.

The deaths came during a turbulent night during which demonstraions against the Erdogan Government --- which escalated last Friday when police attacked a rally in Istanbul against the planned re-development of Gezi Park --- spread through major cities. Some, as in Istanbul's Taksim Square, proceeded peacefully, but others from the Besiktas neighbourhood in Istanbul to Antakya, in southeastern Turkey near Syria, turned into clashes between security forces and demonstrators.

During a visit to Morocco, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan maintained his defiance, saying that the demonstrators were "marginals" who had little support from most of the Turkish public and --- in sharp relief with developments ---that "the situation is a lot calmer now and reason seems to be prevailing".