Police try to break up Istanbul shopping project protest

Despite repeated police efforts to disperse them, thousands held a sit-in for a third consecutive night in the city’s main commercial district to protest a government-backed shopping center project.

Police deployed tear gas earlier Thursday at Taksim Gezi Park. They also removed tents and sleeping bags used by protesters, who are trying to prevent bulldozers from entering the park to take down trees.

Demonstrators disapprove of plans to rebuild old Ottoman barracks and create a shopping arcade.

They are organizing over Facebook and Twitter and by Thursday night the number of people in the park was in the thousands. Their protest has turned into an informal referendum on recent Turkish government policies.

“I saw it on TV last night, saw that there were people, young people taking ownership of the environment. I wanted to support them, because I think not supporting them is inhumane,” said Adalet Makar, a retired banker who spent Wednesday night at the park in her sleeping bag.

The demonstration has grown in number since late Monday. Public outcry over the proposed project, as well as two police interventions against the demonstrators with tear gas, has drawn more people to the park.

“Gas, gas, gas, it is the only way they deal with problems,” said Esen Tuna, a 21-year-old architectural student.

Turkish police routinely use tear gas and water cannons to break up demonstrations.

The government led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made it clear that it will go ahead with the planned project.

“They can do whatever they want. We’ve made our decision and we will do as we have decided,” said Erdogan on Wednesday, according to the semi-official Anadolu Agency.

Erdogan said that the rebuilding of the Ottoman barracks was a matter of having “respect for history.”

Critics disagree, arguing that the project is a way for making profit from the sale of valuable real estate in Istanbul’s main commercial district.

“This cannot be explained by saying this is historical conservation, It is not that, it is about money,” said Ece Demirel, an activist with the Urban Movement Forum, an organization that tracks development projects across Turkey.

The government’s other controversial policies have also come under fire.

Erdogan’s policy on Syria, which many in Turkey blame for a twin car blast that killed at least 52, as well as a new law that would prohibit vendors from selling liquor from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., are part of the sit-in at Taksim Gezi Park.

Demonstrators have chanted, “this is only the beginning, our struggle will continue.”

Many at the park said they believe this may be the beginning of a turning point in Turkey.

“This is an uprising, a protest against the increasing bans,” said Michelle Demishevich, an activist and member of Turkey’s Green Party. “Perhaps just like we saw the Arab Spring, this will be the Turkish Spring.”