Deputy PM says government may deploy army to end protests

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has said that if necessary, the government may deploy military forces to end the ongoing protests. Arinc, speaking in a live show on A Haber news channel, defended the force used by the police to intervene in the protests, saying: "The police are part of law enforcement. Nobody should complain about police, because police is a security force. Those who complain about the police [force] are those who are damaging the environment [vandals]." Arinc also said that Turkey was a state of law and the police would use all the authority given to them. "The [Istanbul] police chief and governor have opened investigations into allegations of excessive police force. It is not possible to conclude these investigations, while the protests are ongoing and the police are still intervening in the incidents," he explained.