I couldn't sleep so I got up. It's raining, all that gas is coming down. The streets are smelling of pepper spray.
I love the smell of pepper spray in the morning.
Ahem. The cops are widening their arsenal. They are using
this and
this. People are saying this is used together with other gas bombs to increase the effect. This is explained
here in Turkish. It's pretty much saying the same thing with the addition of "if one of them lands near you, don't attempt to pick it up and throw it back." Also, "Halkın fizikçileri" means "physicists of the people". Some people said the cops were using Agent Orange but this "physicist" is saying this is what's actually being used.
A TOMA armored vehicle ran down another protestor.Translation: Hold out Gezi Park, Hakkari soldiers are with you
Police is using AKP loyalists now. Whenever an AKP loyalist group starts throwing rocks at protestors, cops do nothing. They don't intervene. In
this video, you can see cops leading the way and the AKP loyalists following them. The people who are recording the video are shouting "Soldiers of Tayyip, keep walking... sons of bitches" "Join the people if you got the balls" "Don't walk from the back of the police, walk in front of them" "They are carrying iron clubs" This shows the true intention of the police. Why the cops aren't stopping them?
Police is attacking people like rabid dogs. The video might get deleted.
In
this video, you'll see cops and fanatics throwing rocks at protestors together. Pay attention to the clubs they are carrying.
Liberal Crime Squad reference
AKP's reaction?
"Well, it looks like they need some gas" (Turkish source)
I'm sharing only confirmed information with evidence. There are lots of lies spreading around and it's difficult to get the truth.
Leatra, what's the average opinion on the street about the Kurds? Are they going to make their chance?
Kurds are also joining the protest. Some people perceive this as an opportunity for PKK or somesuch. People are still having difficulty with standing together with this Kurd-Turk polarization. It's not only about Kurds, the most common clashing ideologies are secularism-fundementalism and leftism-rightism. All things considered, this is still the most strong act of solidarity I have seen from this nation. Pretty much everyone agrees that AKP must go and this is bringing people together. I have no idea what will become of the Kurd problem after this.
When you get back Leatra, are those homemade gas masks for sale or are people just making them in their homes?
People are making them in homes. All you need is a plastic bottle and some tools to do the cutting. People are also handing them out for free on street. However, my friend said he saw a bastard trying to sell some to two Russian tourists. People like these try to make profit of every situation.
Hope it all turns out well. Non-secular governments should never be tolerated.
Non-secular is irritating, but not really the primary issue here, it seems like. Being secular isn't really a defense against or justification for having puppet news stations or brutal police crackdowns, for instance.
Not all oppressive governments are non-secular, but all non-secular governments are oppressive.
Anyways, Turkey still has a tradition of democratic secularism. Ataturk was a secularist and the founder of modern Turkey, they should follow in his example, not taking after their neighbors to the east.
Primary issue is the oppressive and authoritarian regime of AKP but since AKP represents the non-secular here, that tends to come up a lot while protesting. A common chant used by protestors is "Turkey is secular, it will stay secular!". Also you can be sure that AKP loyalist equals fundamental Islamist. So it kinda turns into a Secularists vs Fundamentalists in the end.
Translation:
Left: "We can't stand you when we are sober, AKP!"
Right: "Standing together against fascism!"
Every AKP loyalist is a fundamentalist, but not every religious person is an AKP loyalist. That "We can't stand..." slogan is used frequently by the secularists. It started to be used when the government decided to enforce harsh laws about alcohol. The law isn't in effect yet, but if it's implemented selling of alcohol in 100 meter radius of any school or mosque will be a crime. Enough backstory, if a woman wearing a turban is holding a banner like that, there is a beautiful exception there. She is defending the rights of others. It doesn't matter if she's religious or not. It doesn't matter if she drinks alcohol or not. This is a rare sight and I wish there was more of that. So is it a secularists vs fundamentalists thing? I dunno, I'm not stating an opinion, I'm giving information and letting the people decide for themselves.
Something else of note, here's some info you may find useful; at the bottom of big articles on the BBC there's contact info for photos, interviews, ect
Are you at the protests? If so please contact us using the form below.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.
With a form under it for submitting contact info and such as well.
Anything big turns up, send it there.
Oh, and congratulations; you guys are now the biggest news story. Headline story on the websites of CNN (US & international), BBC, and AlJazeera.
I posted some important pics and videos. Biggest news story? I guess all the hours I spent with collecting, translating, validating and relaying information is well spent. I still got a feeling of "I should do something!" all the time though. I can't sleep because of it.
Be safe, Leatra!
I'm probably going to be the ONLY person saying this, but honestly, It needs to be said...
I seriously hope this is a real case of democracy springing up, and isn't like the various other revolutions that happened under the guise of the Arab Spring.
Thanks. That's what I'm hoping. The bloody circle of revolution is well known to me. This authoritative Islamist agenda needs to be stopped. I'm hoping for a non-rigged elections soon with the exclusion of AKP. The problem is, people are just walking around, shouting slogans, clashing with police, etc. We need a manifesto, a statement, a demand from the government. Occupying Taksim until the government drops it might not be the best course of action.
sharia law fundamentalist thugs will be bused in to hold 'counter protests' and the police will let them duke it out.
Whoa, good guess!
In this instance, the Islamists are already controlling the government and are the ones being protested against.
Probably not. I don't think protests are going to topple this government or cause any civil war. Over some trees in a park, really.
It isn't over the park. The crackdown on the park protest just set everyone off. Erdogan's abuses are many.
Truth. I can't really start counting the shit Eroğan puts us through but I can say this, this isn't about a park anymore. People are chanting "AKP, resign!". We were fed up and this was the last straw. It changed into something much bigger when police started headshotting people with gas bombs.
Amnesty International claimed two people had been killed and more than 1,000 injured, though there was no confirmation of those figures.
Well, that's the first coverage I've seen of the supposed deaths from yesterday. And that seems to be a number of injured just slightly higher than the official government number of "53 civilians".
I heard that there are four
confirmed deaths. I heard around 15 deaths while rummaging through the pile of information on the internet. People who are injured must be definitely more than 1,000 if photos are anything to go by. People are puking their guts out because of gas and then passing out. I'd say it's higher than 53.
Thanks for the support everyone!
EDIT: WATCH THIS
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=551869698185497PAY ATTENTION THE BEARDED GUY WEARING A WHITE SHIRT SHOUTING
He is shouting "Don't record" to the cameraman. Maybe civil police, maybe a fanatic civilian. Doesn't matter. This is way too cruel.
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Topic: Arab Spring springs to Turkey (Read 43969 times)