Middle East Today: Turkey --- Deputy PM Apologises for "Excessive Violence"...But Will PM Erdogan?
Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 7:17Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc apologised on Tuesday for "excessive violence" against protesters rallying in Istanbul and across Turkey since last Friday.
However, his comments were not echoed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has remained defiant during a trip to Morocco --- both over the initial issue of the Government's re-development of Istanbul's Gezi Park and over the wider challenge to his authority.
Arinc said:
At the beginning of the protests, the excessive violence used against people concerned about the environment was wrong. It was unfair and I apologise to those citizens.
The government has learnt its lesson from what happened. We do not have the right and cannot afford to ignore people. Democracies cannot exist without opposition.
At the same time, Arinc maintained a line against those whom he claimed had subsequntly turned protest into rioting: "The ones who caused the destruction to the public property and the ones who are trying to restrict people's freedoms, we do not need to apologise."
The Deputy Prime Minister was speaking after a meeting with President Abdullah Gul who --- also in contrast to Erdogan --- has said that peaceful protesters have expressed their democratic rights.
Thousands of people again gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square, the initial centre of the demonstrations, on Thursday night in a largely festive atmosphere. There were 20 arrests in the Istanbul district of Dolmabahce.
In the capital Ankara, residents maintained nightly pots-and-pans protests, while drivers honked their horns amid chants for Erdogan to resign.
Ethem Sarısülük, who was wounded in the head during police attacks on protesters in Taksim Square, has died of his injuries.
Two other people have so far died in the protests. Abdullah Cömert, a 22-year-old youth branch member of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), was killed in Antakya on June 3 during the clashes, while 20-year-old Mehmet Ayvalıtaş was hit and killed after a car driver ignored warnings to stop for protesters in Ümraniye’s 1 Mayıs neighborhood on the night of June 2.Turkey: Protesters Present Demands to Government
Protesters of the "Taksim Platform", who began the current wave of demonstrations with a challenge to the re-development of Istanbul's Gezi Park, have put their demands in a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç.
The group called for a protection of green space such as Gezi Park, a halt to the demolition of the Ataturk Cultural Centre, and an end to police violence and an end to the use of tear gas and pepper spray, with investigation of security forces and a removal of those responsible for attacks.
The Taksim Platform also insisted on freedom for all those detained during the protests.
Yemen: Military Offensive Against Insurgents
Yemeni forces have begun an "all-out offensive" against insurgents who recently seized villages in the southeastern province of Hadramawt, according to officials and witnesses.
Troops backed by tanks and helicopters launched a dawn operation in Ghayl Bawazir, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) east of the port city of Mukalla, a security official said. Witnesses said they saw military convoys heading in the direction of the area.
Seven wounded soldiers were evacuated to a hospital in Mukalla, a medical source said.
Insurgents have been regrouping since June 2012 in areas of Hadramawt after being driven out of the southern province of Abyan, where they ruled major towns for about a year.
Egypt: Human Rights Watch Criticises Prison Sentences on NGO Personnel
Human Rights Watch has criticised Tuesday's imposition of prison sentences on 43 staff of non-governmental organisations.
HRW said the verdicts, stemming from raids on NGO offices in 2011, violates the right to freedom of association and "are based on a repressive law governing organizations as well as penal code provisions that are not compatible with respect for fundamental rights".
The 43 staff, including 16 Americans, were convicted of operating unlawfully in Egypt and receiving foreign funding without permission.
Five workers --- three Egyptians, an American, and a German were given two years in prison. Eleven received one-year suspended sentences, and 27 were tried in absentia and sentenced to five years.
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