Erdogan again blamed the “interest rate lobby” (his thinly veiled code for Jews) to try and discredit the swelling protests against his Islamist regime.
ISTANBUL – Turkish riot police fired water cannon to clear thousands of protesters from Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Saturday, the first such confrontation there in nearly a week.
The crowd quickly scattered, and water cannon trucks parked at several entry points to Taksim to prevent people from regrouping.
People living around the square banged pots and pans, a sign of solidarity with protesters throughout more than three weeks of unrest in Istanbul and other cities across Turkey. Demonstrators shouted “Police, don’t betray your people!”. […]
In Samsun, a crowd of some 15,000 of Erdogan’s AK Party faithful cheered and waved Turkish flags as he called on the public to give their answer to protests at the ballot box when Turkey holds municipal elections next March.
The rally in the party stronghold was the fourth in a series of mass meetings which Erdogan has called since demonstrations began in Istanbul at the start of June in an unprecedented challenge on the streets to his rule.
The blunt-talking 59-year-old said opponents both within Turkey and abroad had orchestrated the demonstrations, saying an “interest rate lobby” of speculators in financial markets had benefited from the unrest.
“Who won from these three weeks of protests? The interest rate lobby, Turkey’s enemies,” Erdogan said from a stage emblazoned with his portrait and a slogan calling for his supporters to “thwart the big game” played out against Turkey.
“Who lost from these protests? Turkey’s economy, even if to a small extent, tourism lost. They overshadowed and stained Turkey’s image and international power,” he said.