Has anybody seen any reports about Protests in Turkey?

[AlCzervik]

I haven't so i'm wondering if there were protests, i can't imagine there weren't.

[shraby]

1. They showed some protestors on CNN

tonight from Turkey.

[truth2power]

2. Just now on local news.

Just a short clip.

[kittykitty]

3. World Link TV MOSAIC News on Thursday, I think, they showed

news from Turkey. There were massive demonstrations then. The police had to turn water cannons on the crowd. They were burning American flags and stomping on them as they burned on the ground. This was in Istanbul, I think. If they were demonstrating that vigorously on Thurs., I imagine it will be even more when bush is in town.

[cal04]

4. yes, here's one that will make you laugh

just read this on a turkish newspaper

When President Clinton visited Turkey in December 1999, he won a lot of hearts by visiting the earthquake victims and mingling with the crowds. At one point I believe he even grabbed a baby from the crowd and kissed him to the amazement and delight of many Turks. President Bush's current trip to Turkey is taking place in a radically different environment of super-tight security and paranoia.

This is the first time ever I've heard that the U.S. Secret Service is taking a special toilet unit to Turkey just for Mr. Bush's private use so that the terrorists won't have access to the presidential fecal matter and thus his DNA. Washington was concerned that such DNA could be used to produce chemical or biological weapons targeting specifically the U.S. President. The security in Turkey is that tight.

Mr. Bush is not a very popular figure in Turkey right now. The majority of the Turks perceive him as a reckless politician who lied his way into Iraq to secure oil and business profits for the fat cats of the American establishment. That's the common perception. However, no matter what his popularity is, the visit of an American president is still an important event, especially when the troublesome developments in Iraq suggest certain possible consequences that would effect Turkey directly. Hence this visit will certainly witness some tough negotiations between Ankara and Washington.


Daily Hurriyet's Cuneyt Ulsever brought another macro angle to President Bush's visit by suggesting that, regardless of what the Turks think of Mr. Bush as a person and a politician, they should not forget two things: A) Nations have interests, not friends. B) Turkey does have her trumps cards that she should use courageously and wisely. Ulsever's top trump card is the American need to control the Middel East oil and the impossibility of doing so on her own. Even though Turkey may not be able to control the fate of northern Iraq, she can neverthless get her share from the control of Iraqi resources by negotiating with America from such a position of strength. The rest of the story seems to depend on how well the provisional Iraqi government will be able to bring the security situation under control in Iraq, which would effect the degree to which Barzani and Talabani forces will slide towards "autonomy," and which in turn will determine the Turkish response. And here I have not even mentioned the very sensitive issue of Kirkuk yet.

That's why I think that while the NATO Summit in Istanbul is an international event of utmost significance, in terms of impacting Turkey's short-term policy in Iraq and Cyprus, it is probably little more than a sideshow.

http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=21679

[AlCzervik]

7. His own personal

presidential shitter. Nothing says presidential more than that! Oy! I was wondering what the reaction was to the news that the 3 turkish hostages have been threatened with beheading. Thanks for that info, i appreciate it.

[CatWoman]

9. remember Johnson receiving staff/visitors on the can?

as Ron Reagan said: "My dad crapped bigger ones then Bush"

[BrotherBuzz]

8. LOL So Bush*s fecal matter is now a state secret?

What sort of shit is that.

[CatWoman]

10. it's bull, er, Bush shit

that's what it is.

[BrotherBuzz]

13. I think you're right...

his shit is bullshit....only it ain't no state secret.

[REVOLT823]

5. Saw a report tonight

that they were firing tear gas on the demonstrators because they were trying to pass the barricades. I hope Shrub is paying attention to how much the world hates us.

[shraby]

6. Isn't this kind of "over the top" paranoia

on Bush's part:

Turkey just for Mr. Bush's private use so that the terrorists won't have access to the presidential fecal matter and thus his DNA. Washington was concerned that such DNA could be used to produce chemical or biological weapons targeting specifically the U.S. President. The security in Turkey is that tight.

[cal04]

12. looks like the security is that tight

I wonder how it feels to know that no country likes you

Bush is unpopular in Turkey, where the overwhelming majority of the public opposed the war in neighboring Iraq. If Turkish hostages were executed in Iraq, that could considerably increase tensions. In the Turkish capital of Ankara, about 6,000 people, mostly members of trade unions and leftist groups, gathered before Bush's arrival, with some chanting, "Murderer U.S.A., get out of the Middle East!"

About 150 people broke away from the rally and marched to a police barricade, chanting, "We will go beyond barricades protecting Bush!" and "We will make Bush's Ankara visit hell!" Police then fired tear gas at the group from an armored personnel carrier. A few minutes later, the group, called the Socialist Platform of the Downtrodden, again attacked the barricade, throwing rocks at police. Officers again responded with tear gas. Organizers then asked everyone to disperse.

Bush's visit was preceded by a series of protests and bomb blasts, including one Thursday that injured three people outside the Ankara hotel where Bush was expected to stay. Another blast that day on an Istanbul bus killed four people and injured 14 others. On Saturday, a small bomb attached to a banner protesting the summit and Bush's visit went off in downtown Istanbul, causing no injuries.

Two small bomb blasts overnight caused minor damage but no injuries in the southern city of Adana, and police defused a remote-controlled bomb placed under a car in the Black Sea port of Zonguldak, the Anatolia news agency said. The bombings have been blamed on militant leftists, and Turkish police have detained scores of suspected members of radical groups. Militant Kurdish, Islamic and leftist groups are active in the country, and security in Istanbul has been of special concern since November, when four suicide truck bombings blamed on al-Qaeda killed more than 60 people.

More than 23,000 police officers will be on duty during the NATO summit, which also will be attended by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac, among other leaders. Bush meets with Turkish leaders early Sunday before heading to Istanbul for the NATO summit.

Turkish commandos patrolled the Bosporus Strait bisecting Istanbul in rubber boats with mounted machine guns, while bomb squads used trained dogs to comb the streets around the Ankara hotel where Bush was expected to stay. Roads throughout the two cities have been closed.
"All necessary measures have been taken for the NATO summit," Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said. "People with bad intentions will not be given a chance."

Mr. Bush arrived in the Turkish capital under heavy security. Troops and tanks are following his every movement in Ankara and surrounding his hotel. It is a sign of the tense atmosphere in a city that has seen terrorist bombings in recent days.

[newyawker99]

14. Hi REVOLT823!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[stevedeshazer]

11. This explains a lot

No wonder the FReepers so zealously guard their Porta-Potties.