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| The Grand Turk |
| Turkish Union Blamed for Unrest Accuses Govt of 'Witch Hunt' |
| 2013-07-12 |
| [An Nahar] A leading Turkish union involved in fierce anti-government protests that have rocked Turkey on Thursday accused the ruling party of a "witch hunt" after a law was introduced to curb its powers. Under legislation pushed through earlier this week by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party, the Turkish Union of Chambers of Architects and Engineers (TMMOB) will lose its authority to approve urban planning projects. "This is an AKP-engineered law aimed at weakening the union," TMMOB head Mehmet Soganci told Agence La Belle France Presse, referring to Erdogan's Justice and Development Party. "There is no doubt that the law is directly connected with the Gezi Park movement," he said. "The ruling party is trying to make the TMMOB pay the price for what happened and has started a witch hunt to create an illegal organization which it can easily blame for the nationwide unrest," he added. Protests opposing the development of Istanbul's Gezi Park provoked a heavy police response on May 31, mushrooming into mass nationwide demonstrations against Erdogan, viewed by many in Turkey as increasingly authoritarian. Erdogan ordered a crackdown on the demos, sparking unrest that has left five people dead and some 8,000 injured. |
| Posted by:Fred |