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Yellow Vest protests cause satisfaction and resentment in Turkey

Protests in Paris have ignited fears of copycat demonstrations against President Erdogan in Turkey.

A man wearing a yellow vest and holding a French flag stands on a bridge near the Nantes Atlantique Airport as the "yellow vests" movement continues, in Bouguenais, France, December 11, 2018. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe - RC1FB4AA8210
A man wearing a yellow vest and holding a French flag stands on a bridge near the Nantes Atlantique Airport as the "yellow vest" movement continues, in Bouguenais, France, Dec. 11, 2018. — REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

Five years have elapsed since Istanbul's Gezi Park demonstrations, which started as a simple environmental protest but quickly escalated into a nationwide protest of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rule by predominantly secularist quarters.

The fear and loathing caused by those demonstrations — which were suppressed with overwhelming police force and left eight demonstrators and two policemen dead — remain very much alive for Erdogan and his diehard supporters.

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