So I have been to Taksim yesterday. There was no police around so it was safe. There was also lots of foreigners around. I heard some foreigners arrested by the police, so it's not surprising. I'm sure government will say "they are agents" or something like that. People were very helpful, I got offered some food like 6 times in 4 hours. The occupiers have no food problems because food is pretty much free. It's 10th day for the occupiers today. It looks like the Smurfs village here. Here are some photos describing the commune-like lifestyle of protestors.
People who are posting stuff from Twitter about the protests are being arrested. An İzmir Human Rights Organization member confirmed this. The number of arrested people are estimated to be 40.
Some interesting photos from an an English website. Darth Vader joining the protestors, women protestors doing yoga like the violent rioters they are, a makeshift library, a bride and groom marching with their wedding attire, protestor SWAT team, etc.
Not all cops are monsters. Some are even resigning. I have seen some cops handing out gas masks and carrying the wounded. I have also noticed
this photo showing two protestors carrying a wounded cop.
Moroccans are protesting Erdoğan's visit. The banner says "no to the criminal’s visit to our country"
"If we were scared of gas, we wouldn't fart"
"We have 6 starts now, Tanks will be coming soon, GTA"
"Land here if you got the balls" (referring to the police helicopters shooting gas canisters)
"Don't make war, make love to me Tayyip"
"This is enough, I'm calling the police"
Arınç is pronounced like "aren't". Arınç is the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey.
,
"I couldn't find a slogan"
"Where are you Spartacus?
"
He is here supporting the protestors.
"Please don't come back" this is what people have to say about Erdoğan's Africa trip.
Kilroy...
Several unions are protesting.
You can see KESK (Confederation of Public Workers' Unions) marching here. Four big unions of Turkey have dropped work. DİSK (Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey), TTB (Turkish Medical Association) and TMMOB (Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects) joined the protests. The number of protestors from these unions are reported to be 850,000 from this
Turkish source. Of course not all of them are in one location. We don't have that much free space in Taksim. There is no general strike, some unions are dropping the work for short periods, that's all. Protestors are still urging the unions for a general strike. We'll see what happens.
https://twitter.com/bayfiratyildiz/status/340943561065373697/photo/1Protestors are shielding themselves behind the barricades
No comment
They don't know what they are doing
The ever-growing wall of needs in Taksim
Leandra: As for AKP loosing, do you have any idea of the sentiment outside the cities, the in the traditional AKP stronghold? With the media black-out, I'd expect a lot of older rural people to have no idea what's going on and thinking the protesters are rioters that should be put down. Could be worth launching a "call your grandma" campaign.
There are some protests in the rural areas too. For example, in Hatay protests, 2 protestors got killed by the police. I don't remember the exact number, but around 65 provinces out of 81 are protesting. The ignorance still exists because not everyone is aware of social media. There are even people who think this is a political party rally of some kind. There are old people protesting too as you can see from the photos I posted, but they are usually only in big cities.
I salute you from across the globe, sir. Please, keep safe. We don't want to lose you. Look, if it's too much to ask then don't, but I want your opinion on a few things.
A) Do you think a revolution is possible, and would you take part in one?
B) If A is yes, would you want any foreign support to overthrow the government? Do you think this would just cause trouble?
C) What's your stance? Are there any groups or factions in this chaos or Gov and People?
D) How do you think this is going to end?
E) What do you think the fallout for the region will be? More revolutions/protesting?
I'm sorry, I just really want to know. This is an opportunity for us all to be educated by an inside source. It's so rare for things like this to happen. But anyway, I support you man. Keep your head down, don't take risks.
Good questions. No need to apologize, these are the exact kind of questions I would love to answer.
A) A revolution is possible because, well, Turkish people are easy to keep docile but hard to calm down once they rebel. Especially the young people will never go back to living normal with this government again. Every death creates a martyr, and strengthens the cause. If a revolution happens, I would definitely support it.
B) You mean direct help? Then, no. People have already started saying things like "This is all a game being played by superpowers". People here are very sensitive when it comes to being "supported" by a foreign power. Erdoğan already has a reputation for licking the ass of USA and it would put the protestors in a hypocritical situation. Indirect help or politicians criticizing Erdoğan is making people happy, but direct help would stir up some shit between the Nationalists.
C) Well, you know how it is. In every revolution everyone agrees about one thing, the government must go. Then they fight about every other issue at hand. Turkey had a bloody history between Nationalists and Communists. The last thing I want is these two groups butchering each other again. At the moment it seems like they are standing together. The real tension is between Fundamentals and Secularists. There are religious people who are supporting the protest but real Fundamentals are mostly supporting AKP. The majority appears to be Communists/Socialists/Secularists but there are people from every ideology. I think the gap between these groups are not very long. Everyone agrees that AKP must go and this is bringing the people together.
D) I predict that Erdoğan will be killed/exiled/forced to resign. The hate against him is indefinable. A simple apology isn't going to cut it. A military coup isn't likely, because Erdoğan already imprisoned lots of outspoken generals. The army isn't doing more than showing silent support. What will come? I have no idea. I'm expecting CHP (centre-leftist Kemalist main opposition party) to take the helm, but anything can happen. I personally want free elections with the exclusion of AKP. I think the majority wants this. But there is no stated demands, everyone is simply protesting and expecting things to change.
E) Well, pretty much what I said while answering question D. I think the Fundamentalists will form a new party if AKP dissolves. The new party will be very unpopular because there are lots of people around here who loves to lick the ass of who is ruling the country. If CHP becomes the new big man, all tongues will be directed at them (hey, that rhymes). So I'm not expecting a heavily conservative party. This movement is for democracy, so I'm not expecting another dictator claiming the seat of PM. The question of "What happens after this?" is pretty much answered by "We'll think about it if things come to it".
Anyway, moving back to turkey.
Damn that face wound looks nasty, kinda says something about the police if they're doing things like that. As if they just dont really care at all about the lives of the protestors, although that's already been established with the various deaths..
So yeah, be careful.
As an aside, it is somewhat good to see solidarity (Am I even using it right) coming in from places, like Greece. I mean it should create pressure on the Turkish government, right?
Also over here in the east of england, we got coverage of it yesterday, from the bbc news channel so it not being frontpage on the website is somewhat weird.
Well, when they start headshotting civilians with gas canisters and opening craters on people's faces, one tends to steer clear of Turkish police.
The news of solidarity from other countries are giving people hope and courage. It's also apparently creating pressure on the Turkish government because some politicians said things like "This is affecting our image negatively."
actually, greece is the historical enemy of turkey, so whatever the greeks say will only strengthen the government's position in it's own eyes and the eyes of it's supporters, although it might lighten up the relations between the two countries once this government is deposed
Not at all. Greece are one of the most supportive countries when it comes to this movement. I love Greek people personally and their support makes me happy and giving people hope. There are racists everywhere acting like we are still fighting the Turkish War of Independence but racists exist everywhere. Don't mind them.
Erdogan has apparently decided that he's going to go ahead with demolishing the park again.
I told you so.
Also, have this extremely high quality animation to use if you need to explain the situation to somebody.
That animation was awesome. Everyone should watch it. There are lots of more stuff Erdoğan did but it still shows some of the most controversial ones. Erdoğan clearly sees himself as one of the emperors of Ottoman Empire. One thing he forgets is, Turkey was created from the ruins of Ottoman Empire after Turkish rebels started disagreeing with the direction Ottoman Empire was taking. What's more is, it's us who has the western support this time.
Thanks for the supportive comments everyone! I wish I could do more, but this is all I can do without worrying my family too much. One can only create so many lies about the slogans being screamed on the background while talking on the phone.
BTW, this channel is mostly active and even when it's not active it runs the most recent recordings. Beware of trolls when no moderator is present.
http://www.livestream.com/revoltistanbulKeep following the link below. There are lots of interesting photos there.
http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com/
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Topic: Arab Spring springs to Turkey (Read 43886 times)