Three protesters have died from the injuries they received during the protests.
According to the information I have about 10, maybe more, protesters are still hospitalized in critical condition.
Several protesters have lost eyes or their eyesight due to injuries they suffered during the protests - one of them an 18-year-old boy in Antalya who is still in very critical condition. He was shot in the eye with a tear gas cannister from only a few meters away.
More than 750 protesters have had to be hospitalized so far, but many of them were treated and released.
Protests continued today and have increased this evening. The police seem to have greatly reduced the force they are using against the protests but there have been some instances where force was used.
The protests I have heard about are all proceeding peacefully right now.
There are reports that the police and protesters in the places where the most dramatic protests have occurred during the past few days have come to agreements - the protesters won't erect barricades or approach the police and the police will stay behind their lines and not use tear gas or pressurized water cannons.
The pots and pans, honking, and switching lights on and off protests are continuing in full force again tonight.
The President of Turkey has been very involved in trying to calm the situation and reportedly he has told the police that force could only be used for self defense or if protesters used force.
Being Democratically Elected Doesn't Automatically Mean You are Democratic
The President called the Deputy Prime Minister to his office today. Following the meeting the Deputy PM, who is acting PM while Erdoğan is out of the country, made several statements acknowledging that the government was the government of all the people - not just of those who supported it, that the protests were part of the democratic process, that excessive force had been used, and that the demands of the protesters should be acknowledged. He also apologized for the use of excessive force.
All of which are in direct contradiction to the statements of PM Erdoğan.
He did initially lamely try to say that Twitter was responsible, and that 'outside forces' were organizing the protests, and that 'marginal groups' were responsible. But it seems that he was quietly told to stop the bullshit.
As to the reasons why -
The President seems to understand that the government's actions and responses have been excessive and undemocratic. He also seems to be truly upset by the number of serious injuries and the deaths last night also seem to have really upset him.
The reactions in Europe and the US to the government's actions have hit home. The president has even issued statements that these protests are like the Occupy protests in the US and the recent protests in the UK and Spain, even stating that the protests in Turkey were not like those which occurred in the Arab Spring.
There seems to be a growing displeasure among AKP MPs (the ruling party) towards the prime minister.
Economics has also played an important roll. It is often stated that the Turkish economy is strong. In reality it isn't very strong. There were strong indications on Sunday night and Monday morning that foreign investors were seriously considering withdrawing their money, and some actually did resulting in the 10% loss in the stock market on Monday. The protests were on the edge of causing an economic crisis in Turkey.
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There has been a very clear increase in vocal public support for the protests, from police officers to celebrities, to football fan clubs, to unions, to business leaders, to reporters, to poiiticians who were sitting on the fence, to high school students, to mothers and fathers and grandmothers and grandfathers.
Everyone is waiting to see what will happen in two days when PM Erdoğan returns to Turkey.
I will update if anything significant occurs.
Also if anyone has links or information please add it in the comments.
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Protests in Turkey - 24 Arrested for Social Media Crimes
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Protests in Turkey - We're Not a 2nd Class Democracy
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This video of police excessive force is causing an uproar.
http://webtv.hurriyet.com.tr/...
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Update: There are several reports of clashes between the police and protesters early this morning - after midnight up to 4:00 am - the largest in Besiktas (Istanbul).
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