Photos by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org
Protests continued in Istanbul’s Gezi Park and Taskim Square amid intense use of tear gas and other forms of excessive force by Turkish police forces. Left-wing labor unions on Tuesday joined the protests, which began on May 28 over plans to redevelop Gezi Park but have spread to other cities and have expanded to address the Turkish government’s increasingly authoritarian policies. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has apologized for police tactics, saying, “the use of excessive force shown against the people who initially started this protest with the motive of protecting the environment was wrong. And it was unfair. So I apologise to those citizens.” However, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused the protesters of being “arm-in-arm with terrorism.” As of this writing, two protesters have been shot dead by police, while hundreds have been injured.
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Last Metro to Taksim, part 1: Among the debris
Last metro to Taksim, part 2: Day
Last Metro to Taksim, part 3: Enter night
PHOTOS: Demonstrators occupy Istanbul’s Taskim Square
