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<\/a>Scenes similar to last summer\u2019s mass protests, sparked by Mr Erdogan\u2019s plans to build a shopping mall in the Gezi Park, were repeated on Thursday as riot police armed with plastic bullets, water cannons and pepper spray clashed with protestors battling to defy the ban. Dozens of people, including nine journalists, were wounded and around 160 were detained.<\/p>\nAcross Turkey security officials took extreme measures to prevent the celebrations from turning into anti-government demonstrations. Public transport was halted in scattered arteries in Istanbul, one of the world\u2019s top tourist destinations. Bemused tourists wandered around with their suitcases looking for ways to get to their hotels. In the capital, Ankara, the city centre was in lockdown. A spokesperson for the Istanbul governor\u2019s office justified the moves on the grounds that \u201cillegal terror organisations and their arms would provoke violence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pro-government newspapers splashed photographs of the alleged provocateurs leaning over rows of beer bottles, supposedly suggesting how debauched they were. In reality these pictures were taken in Ukraine. On Twitter pro-government trolls waged their own battles against those who dared to suggest that police brutality was taking place, inundating them with threatening messages and labeling them \u201ctraitors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Erdogan has been on the offensive ever since the Gezi park protests last summer left seven people dead (and his international reputation in tatters). Unfazed by rebukes from his western friends, Mr Erdogan has turned up repression in recent months, ramming through controversial laws on internet censorship and boosting the powers of the national spy agency (MIT) and those of the government over the courts. Mr Erdogan insists this is needed to fend off a supposed cabal of global conspirators who are bent on overthrowing him and harming Turkey.<\/p>\n
More likely, say Mr Erdogan\u2019s critics, the curbing of the judiciary\u2019s power is aimed at stifling a slew of corruption charges being leveled against his family and close circle. Such suspicions grew after the government banned access to YouTube, where incriminating recordings of conversations between Mr Erdogan and his son have scored millions of hits. Freedom House, a New York based media watchdog, in a report<\/a> released to mark World Press Freedom day on May 2nd, downgraded Turkey, which has more journalists in jail than any other country, from \u201cpartially free\u201d to \u201cnot free.\u201d<\/p>\n None of this has put a dent in Mr Erdogan\u2019s popularity. Drawing on its record of economic stability and growth, Mr Erdogan\u2019s Justice and Development Party (AK) trounced its perennially squabbling rivals in the local polls on March 30th. He is now expected to make a bid for the presidency when it is up for grabs in August.<\/p>\n Yet the economy is slowing down and Mr Erdogan\u2019s confrontational tactics are beginning to sap investor confidence. Moreover, the government may not prove as successful in suppressing the first anniversary of the Gezi protests that is due to be marked across the country on May 31st. Mr Erdogan\u2019s ride to the presidency promises to be a bumpy one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"