Turkey govt may use armed forces to quell protests

Zee Media Bureau

After the protesters refused to budge, the Turkish government on Monday said that they may use armed forces to end the three-week protest in Istanbul and other cities, according to BBC. It is for the first time that the Turkish government has threatened the protesters against the use of military forces; a day after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan defended his crackdown on an Istanbul protest park. Two of Turkey`s main trade unions began a nationwide strike on Monday to protest at police violence against anti-government demonstrators. Around 500 demonstrators were arrested in the police crackdown. The KESK and DISK trade unions together represent hundreds of thousands of workers. Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler today warned the protesters not to take on the streets and condemned the strike as "illegal". Meanwhile, the prime minister told the supporters at a rally that the protests were manipulated by the terrorists. The protest which began on May 28 against Istanbul`s Gezi Park redevelopment plan on the Taksim Square, has spread into a nation-wide protest.