Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota has rejected comparisons between anti-government protests that have hit his country for the past week and those in Turkey, saying the situation in Brazil was peaceful Today`s Zaman reported.
"I think it's a different situation; the manifestations have been peaceful, predominately," Patriota told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday in an interview when asked if he was concerned that Brazil would see the kind of confrontation and violence that Turkey has seen over the past three weeks. "There may be episodes of violence here and there and, of course, the security forces have to be prepared because there are large numbers of people involved," he said. "And our expectation is that they will continue to manifest in a peaceful way."
Many social media users have seen similarities between the Turkish and Brazilian protests because both lack a leader, involve mostly the middle class and are organized through the social media. In Brazil, an increase in bus and subway fares ignited anti-government protests that have spread across the country in the past week. In Turkey, what triggered the protests was a police crackdown on an environmentalist sit-in against plans to demolish a city park adjacent to Taksim Square in downtown İstanbul.
Thousands of people have been injured in the course of protests since May 31, when a police attack on the environmentalist group in Gezi Park sparked demonstrations and clashes with the police near Taksim. Dozens were injured in Brazil during confrontations between the police and protesters across the country.
Protesters in Brazil are outraged over the failure of the government to provide basic services and ensure public safety, even as Brazil's economy modernizes and tax rates remain some of the highest in the world.
President Dilma Rousseff, a former leftist guerrilla who was imprisoned and tortured during Brazil's 1964-1985 dictatorship, has hailed the protests as strengthening Brazil's democracy. "Brazil today woke up stronger," she said in a statement on Tuesday. The increase in bus and subway fares was also reversed in the two biggest cities of Brazil on Wednesday as the authorities try to cope with the protests.
Patriota, speaking to CNN, echoed Rousseff, saying that Brazil is a stronger country because of the protests and that these demonstrations are all part of the democratic process.
"Her government has lifted millions out of the poverty and joined the middle class," he said of Rousseff. "And it's natural that rising living conditions should give rise to higher expectations."
CNN, which broadcast a police intervention in Taksim Square live on June 11 for several hours, and other foreign media outlets received criticism from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other politicians for their coverage of the protests in Turkey. Amanpour in particular was at the center of criticism when she ended an interview with İbrahim Kalin, an aide to Erdogan, saying, "The show is over."