US urges Turkish officials to refrain from violence

The Obama administration voiced concern over Turkey’s crackdown on protestors and urged Turkish authorities to exercise restraint.

Presidential spokesman, Jay Carney described the Turkish protestors as ordinary citizens excercising their rights to free expression.

Carney went on to express concerns regarding the excessive use of force on protesters and called for the events to be investigated.

Echoing spokesman Carney’s concerns, Secretary of State John Kerry, told reporters at the state department that,

“The United States supports full freedom of expression and assembly, including the right of people to peaceful protest, because that is a fundamental right to any democracy.”

“We are concerned by the reports of excessive use of force by police. We obviously hope there will be a full investigation of those incidents and full restraint from the police force with respect to those incidents.”

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