Yellow Vest protests cause satisfaction and resentment in Turkey
Protests in Paris have ignited fears of copycat demonstrations against President Erdogan in Turkey.
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.
This was discernible in their reactions to the Yellow Vest protests in Paris, which also provided Erdogan and his supporters with an opportunity to delight in the difficult situation President Emmanuel Macron now faces.
The barely concealed sense of satisfaction over these events is on parade, from President Erdogan down to members of his government, as well as the pro-government media.
