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Erdogan Blames Foreign HandIn Protests

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused foreign intelligence services of being behind the street demonstrations in Turkey.
A protester throws a gas canister back at the riot police during a demonstration in Ankara, June 3, 2013. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused anti-government protesters on Monday of walking "arm-in-arm with terrorism", remarks that could further inflame public anger after three days of some of the most violent riots in decades. Hundreds of police and protesters have been injured since Friday in the riots, which began with a demonstration to halt construction in a park in an Istanbul square and gre

Although the ongoing street protests in Turkey cannot and should not be considered as being the same as the developments in some Arab countries rocked by popular uprisings, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan provided a most-unexpected comparison on Monday.

Just like Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who initially blamed foreign intelligence services as being behind the protests in Syria, Erdogan, too, accused foreign agents of supporting the ongoing protests asking for his resignation.

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