“The riots which broke out in Turkey are a
"warning sign" that the Turkish government might want to consider if it
is to protect the stability that in the past 10 years has favoured the
country's economic growth and the strengthening of its international
role,” Bishop Louis Pelatre, Apostolic Vicar of Istanbul told Fides news agency.
“Mgr. Pelatre makes it clear that the Christian communities in Turkey are not in any way directly involved in the political conflicts that can be seen behind the demonstrations and riots which started from Istanbul - with the protest to block the construction of a shopping centre that would have disembowelled a park in the district of Taksim” and spread across the country.
“According to the Apostolic Vicar, the demonstrations are above all carried out by students with the support of sectors linked to Kemalists. But behind the protests "one cannot see a real political alternative to the ruling party, which remains strong and has the support of the majority of the population," Fides reported.
“According to the protesters, Erdoğan's government takes advantage of the consent obtained in Turkish society - founded on the stability and economic growth that Turkey has enjoyed over the past decade - to pursue a plan of authoritarian Islamization from above. In this sense - notes bishop Pelatre - "protests could push the government to review its strategies. Erdoğan has so far yielded space to Islamist groups, but in his own party there are other forces and other sensitivities. The basis of his consent is wider than the Islamist forces, and he needs the support of all to continue to govern. The same President Abdullah Gül often expresses articulated and accommodating positions. It is to be hoped that the facts of these days nurture in all of them a spirit of moderation, and not authoritarianism."