Several thousand leftists staged anti-US and anti-NATO protests in Turkey on Sunday, with shouts of “Yankee Go Home!” the day before President Barack Obama’s visit.
“Obama don’t come! We don’t want you!” the protesters shouted in the Turkish capital as riot police blocked the streets to contain the crowds. Obama was scheduled to arrive in Ankara on Monday.
Thousands of protesters also took to the streets in Istanbul’s Kadikoy district, chanting “Yankee Go Home!” A banner read: “Obama go back home.”
The demonstrators in Ankara and in Istanbul called for NATO’s disbandment as world leaders gathered for the Western alliance’s 60th anniversary summit in Strasbourg, France. Turkey is a NATO member.
Four leftists chained themselves to a bridge over the Bosporus strait in Istanbul in a related anti-NATO protest on Saturday, Dogan news agency television footage showed. Police detained the protesters, who were wearing white T-shirts bearing the slogan: “Murderer NATO.”