ISTANBUL // The Turkish government yesterday said it would call in the military if police could not stop nationwide protests that have entered a third week.
Bulent Arinc, a deputy prime minister, made the warning as trade union members took to the streets with anti-government protesters.
The government of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has faced an unprecedented wave of protests since May 31, when a police crack-down on a sit-in by environmentalists in Istanbul's Gezi Park sparked demonstrations and clashes all over the country.
Mr Erdogan said yesterday that the protests were "targeting democracy" and accused demonstrators of "vandalism and barbarism". A former minister also warned that the country was sliding into civil war.
Mr Arinc said yesterday that the government would deploy the army if they deemed it necessary.
"Military forces can also be used to secure order" if unrest was spreading and provincial governors called for the army, he said. Units of the military police were deployed in Istanbul last weekend for the first time.
More than a million people so far have taken part in protest marches in 78 of Turkey's 81 provinces, Mr Arinc said. Five people have died and more than 7,000 people have been injured while police have detained hundreds of protesters, although many have been released.
Several thousand supporters of five trade unions and professional associations with a combined membership of more than 400,000 joined activists from Taksim Solidarity, an umbrella group of the protest movement, for a planned march in central Istanbul yesterday.
As demonstrators gathered, police blocked streets leading to the square. Following negotiations with police, most of the protesters dispersed, but there were clashes later between police and smaller groups of demonstrators trying to get through to the square, with the police using water cannon and tear gas.
Marches of thousands of protesters in the coastal city of Izmir and the capital Ankara ended peacefully.
The peaceful protests followed a day of clashes in several Turkish cities and a show of strength by supporters of Mr Erdogan at a meeting attended by several hundred thousand people in Istanbul on Sunday.
In another sign of rising tensions, supporters of Mr Erdogan and protesters clashed in the central Anatolian city of Konya on Sunday.
News reports said a small rally of several dozen anti-government protesters in the city attracted a much larger crowd of government supporters, some of whom beat protesters. Police intervened and saved the protesters by driving them away in police buses, the reports said.
Yasar Okuyan, a conservative politician and former Turkish labour minister, warned that the country was sliding into "civil war".
Speaking in the north-west city of Yalova last Saturday, Mr Okuyan said that a high-ranking police officer in Istanbul had compared his units facing demonstrators with soldiers fighting in a war.
"Is your fellow citizen an enemy?" Mr Okuyan asked. "This mentality is pushing Turkey towards civil war."
Ertugrul Gunay, a former minister for culture in Mr Erdogan's government and a representative of the small liberal wing of Mr Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP), warned the ruling party that the government's tough stance was scaring off some of its supporters.
"An important part of those people who pour out on to the squares voted for us" in a referendum on constitutional changes in 2010 and in the general elections in 2011, Mr Gunay said on Twitter.
According to a new poll, almost 50 per cent of voters think that the Erdogan government is moving towards authoritarianism. About 54 per cent have the impression that the government is meddling in their private lives.
The poll, conducted between June 3 and June 12, also suggested that the AKP was losing voter support and that Mr Erdogan's popularity was sliding. Last week, other surveys suggested that support for the ruling party had remained firm.
The new poll said 35.3 per cent would vote AKP if elections were held today, compared with 46.5 per cent who expressed support for the ruling party in June last year. Mr Erdogan's popularity dropped from 60.7 per cent in April to 53.5 per cent this month.
The Turkish government's handling of the protests drew fresh criticism from Europe yesterday.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said she was shocked at Turkey's tough response to the protests, but she stopped short of demanding that the European Union call off accession talks with the country.
"I'm appalled, like many others," Ms Merkel said. "I would like to see those who have criticism, who have a different opinion and a different idea of society, having some space in a Turkey that moves into the 21st century."
But Mr Erdogan said Europeans were themselves "anti-democratic" because they had expressed support for protesters "who attack the freedom of others".
tseibert@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by the Associated Press and Reuters
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MEYDAN CARD
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9.25pm The Garhoud Sprint Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,200m
10pm Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m
The National selections
6.30pm Majestic Thunder
7.05pm Commanding
7.40pm Mark Of Approval
8.15pm Mulfit
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10pm Midnight Sands
Grand Slam Los Angeles results
Men:
56kg – Jorge Nakamura
62kg – Joao Gabriel de Sousa
69kg – Gianni Grippo
77kg – Caio Soares
85kg – Manuel Ribamar
94kg – Gustavo Batista
110kg – Erberth Santos
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Ireland 125 all out
(20 overs; Stirling 72, Mustafa 4-18)
UAE 125 for 5
(17 overs, Mustafa 39, D’Silva 29, Usman 29)
UAE won by five wickets
Results
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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The White Lotus: Season three
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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More on Turkey's Syria offence
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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UAE
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
