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Greens' Roth sees Turkish violence live

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Greens' Roth sees Turkish violence live
Photo: DPA

Green Party politician Claudia Roth said on Saturday afternoon that she had the appalling experience of being at the Taksim Square protest in Turkey when police violently ended the gathering.

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“It is like a war,” she said. “They are hunting people in the streets and firing tear gas grenades directly at people.”

Roth made her comments late Saturday afternoon to the DPA news agency in Istanbul.

Roth, who is the Green Party chairwoman, was speaking with protestors in Gezi Park when the police action began. She said that, before then, the mood in the protest camp was peaceful.

Other visitors to the tent camp reported that children were there.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered riot police to clear the park and they moved in Saturday with water cannons and tear gas.

The protests began 18 days ago over Erdogan’s plan to build a shopping center in Gezi Park, one of Istanbul’s last green spaces.

DPA/The Local/mw

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