Middle East Today: Turkey --- How Serious Are the Protests?

A protester is injured by a water cannon after challenging a police van

See also Friday's Turkey Today: Protesters Defy Police Crackdown as Demonstrations Spread Beyond Istanbul

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Protests Beyond Istanbul

Headlines tonight are of the thousands who gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square as police pulled back and allowed demonstrations; however, there have been large rallies in other Turkish cities. This is Bursa, Turkey's fourth-largest city, in the northwest of the country:

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Syria, Egypt (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Occupation and Demands

Demonstration last night in Hama in Syria

2141 GMT: Tonight, Aleppo suddenly does not seem so sleepy. Protesters in Al Jamiliah, west of the city's center, chant for the fall of the regime.

2130 GMT: In Aleppo today, protesters chant "We bow down only to God... Where is Aleppo´s people conscience... Oh Aleppo, rise, rise!...With our soul and blood we sacrifice ourselves for Daraa," and "Allah is the Greatest!" (Thanks to Zilal for translation).

2114 GMT: Video from today's clashes and protests in Jidhafs, Bahrain. It matches pictures and descriptions of witness accounts.

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Iran Special: Introducing the "Civil Society Zine"

Arseh Sevom, an organisation promoting civil society in Iran, has introduced a new publication. We will be featuring some of the articles, but for now we turn it over to Arseh Sevom's Tori Egherman:

This is the first issue of Arseh Sevom's Civil Society Zine. For the first topic, we chose to look at net­works and net­working: tra­di­tional, social, and dig­ital. When we started solic­iting con­tri­bu­tions in 2010, there was no "Arab Spring". No one knew that pro­testers in Tunisia and Egypt would be able to unseat long-term leaders and inspire move­ments all over the Arab world.

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Egypt Social Media Special: A Daughter Named Facebook (Tsotsis)

Cultural relativity is an amazing thing. While American parents worry about their kids being on Facebook, Egyptian parents are naming their kids “Facebook” to commemorate the events surrounding the #Jan25 revolution.

According to Al-Ahram (one of the most popular newspapers in Egypt) a twenty-something Egyptian man has named his first born daughter “Facebook” in tribute to the role the social media service played in organizing the protests in Tahrir Square and beyond.

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Egypt in Pictures: Icons of the Uprising

Wael Ghonim and the mother of Khaled Said --- Ghonim's Facebook campaign "We are Khaled Said", who was killed by Egyptian police, was one of the catalysts for protests

Egypt: Who Disabled Facebook's "We Are All Khaled Said" Page?

UPDATE 1520 GMT: An activist reports, "Facebook reinstated the [Egyptian] groups but the moderators as of last night remain suspended, i.e., the groups are dead in the water."

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As Presidential elections approach, tension is rising in Egypt. On Thursday, authorities arrested 156 protesters over Wednesday's  clashes between Christians and police, sparked by the government's refusal of a permit to build a church. Those arrested have been accused of planning to kill policemen, and the public prosecutor has ordered their detention for two weeks.

One sign of the concern is the apparent decision to block the Facebook page "We Are All Khaled Said". In June, Said was allegedly beaten to death in Alexandria by two policemen after he refused to give them money. 

The case has sparked widespread, continuing protests, and the page gathered more than 3000 followers.

So, with more restrictions on information likely as the vote draws near, is Facebook --- which is a leading social media site in Egypt --- collaborating with the authorities?