I'll answer questions only, because there isn't much I can share at this point. Police brutality and lies of the media keep going as usual.
Yeah, we just right now have a case where some cops are accused of overreacting at an occupy demo in Frankfurt (I think they broke a camera). The difference to Turkey is - there was media outrage, now an investigation and if necessary there will be a trial.
Leatra:
Is turkish media coverage getting any better?
What is "the silent majority" thinking?
Are you worried AKP voters might start (violently) counter-protesting?
Media here are reporting about the different goals of the protesters, tensions between Kurds and Kemalists, fear of CHP or other opposition parties hijacking the protests. Are you seeing any of that?
The Turkish media started show some recordings of the protests areas after the backlash from people. But they were usually biased when showing this. A woman was holding a bottle of vinegar to lessen the effects of the gas on her eyes and she was branded as a molotov-wielding maniac. A photo of a Turkish flag being burned by the protestors have been shown too, but it's clearly the work of Photoshop because the flag wasn't on fire even though it was physically on a fire. There is also this:
I was already used to the lies of Turkish media but they are now getting incredibly extreme. I'm seeing things I read about in Nineteen Eighty-Four by Orwell. It's not just the Turkish media that's taking sides. There are even big companies supporting AKP. They are under a widespread boycott by the protestors but Turkish media isn't easy to boycott because that's where everyone gets information, at least people who don't use social media. Turkish media doesn't only lick Erdoğan's ass to get rewarded by him, there are people who agree with him. A journalist once said "In this country, alcohol, prostitution, sex without marriage, being faithless, statues, ideologies, ballet, romantic relationships without marriage, bikini and more is allowed. With all these freedoms, what else do they want, why they are protesting?" I wish you guys knew enough Turkish to read what these motherfuckers are saying. I'm living in a country where ballet and statues are seen as something that wouldn't be allowed normally, and people treat Turkey like we are a secular and free country because everyone compares us to Middle East rather than Europa.
I'm not seeing any clashes between the protestors with opposing ideologies. Actually, there was a group of people who was performing namaz at the protest area. The protestors formed a wall by surrounding them so nobody would harass them. You know there is solidarity in a protestor group if an atheist is protecting a Muslim from any possible provocation. It's the first time in Turkey I'm seeing this much solidarity withing the supporters of opposing ideologies. CHP didn't hijack the protests and they actually didn't say anything about it until after 3-4 days. They are supportive of the protests, but they aren't actively joining the protests with their party banners and stuff. This movement has started by the people, and no political party can hijack it. The people wouldn't allow it. There are lots of people who dislike CHP there. I didn't see any tension between Kurds and Kemalists too. I have seen some Kurds doing PKK propaganda but nobody intervened and they left by themselves. Ass-licker Turkish media and AKP tries to polarize the groups with labels like Secularists, Kurds, Kemalists, etc, and the foreign media is probably getting information from them.
AKP loyalists are already attacking people in the streets with the iron clubs. Cops use them as a militia.
You can see AKP loyalists and cops throwing rocks at protestors together in this video. I mean... Seriously, if the police is throwing rocks at a protestor group, than something is wrong with this country. I have seen people chasing down by-standers with machetes and clubs. What kind of a person would do that.
If you mean a literal counter-
protesting, like with slogans and banners and stuff, that only happened at Atatürk Airport when a group of AKP loyalists were gathered by AKP politicians to welcome Erdoğan to the country. I'm not worried of their protesting. Everyone is free to voice their opinions and they are welcome to do so. I'm worried they are attacking the protestors with clubs and machetes. Even that gathering at Atatürk Airport didn't happen by the people itself. AKP politicians actively gathered a group by sending messages to them and gathering them with AKP funded busses. They set up fireworks and a sound system.
Then they lied to everyone with things like "We couldn't stop them. They wanted to welcome the president." Even when the evidence suggesting the exactly opposite of that was existing on the internet.
It can be seen very easily that they are only there because someone told them to. While protesting, there is a guy who shouts a slogan with a megaphone, so the rest can understand the slogan and shout it together. The guy with the megaphone said "Don't test our patience, Taksim!" and some of the people interpreted that as "Don't test our patience, Tayyip!" and they kept shouting Tayyip instead of Taksim. I don't know if this is hilarious or embarrassing. This kind of community is more than what a dictator would want. We should gather these groups into a time machine and send them to Nazi Germany or Stalin's Soviet Russia or something.
Well, I did join the protests at Taksim, so I don't think I count as a non-protestor. I definitely did less than all the brave people protesting near the police, throwing active gas canisters away, helping the wounded, etc, but I can at least say "I was there" to my and grandchild one day.
"The silent majority" and the non-protesting population are either AKP loyalists or people who aren't able to join the protests. I know several people who couldn't join the protests because their families were worried (and they couldn't come up with a lie like me) or simply scared to join the protests. AKP loyalists are already showing their colors by assaulting the protestors with police and with their comments on the social media. Considering how protests in İstanbul are so big people can't fit into Taksim anymore, I'd say there are lots of people sympathizing with the protestors but can't join actively.
Took an whole day to finish finally reading all that has been going on...great job Leatra! Learnt and came to know about a lot besides this.
Because of the major news networks of the world covering this so poorly,
No wonder over here in India, there is hardly any media coverage other than the red dress lady incident.
and a mention by a columnist in a paper comparing it and saying how the Indian government should be warned and not try to make laws which are invading individual's rights like the ones they are trying to pass right now over here which are mainly to control media and also telecommunications monitoring. This is one of the examples- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Indias-web-phone-surveillance-system-draws-flak/articleshow/20479332.cms
AKP could never do something like that in Turkey. They don't understand how Internet works and it would be easily hackable or easily circumvented. Every self-respecting internet user in Turkey has the basic understanding of DNS options and proxies thanks to the censorship of AKP.
Also I have question Leatra, you haven't mentioned this before and just answer it in a few words,
Has all these harsh rules like heavy media censorship, booze etc only started since His ascent to power suddenly by Him or has it been there before Him and He only worsened it?
The AKP has been in power since 2002. It's fairly hard to compare. (Also, hardly fair)
Yeah, AKP has been in power since 2002. They were very slow with furthering their conservative and fundamentalist Islamic agenda. They knew how to keep the people with the same memory capability of a fish. They knew how to widen their influence and keep people from rebelling. They rewarded their followers and punished the people who kept criticizing them.
I still remember all the women who got raped by 10-15 people at the same time and the rapists managed to walk free because the woman in question was deemed "she was clearly enjoying it" by the judges. It really doesn't matter if you are a rapist maniacal murderous sociopath or not. The only thing that matters is if you support AKP or not. Erdoğan is your Big Brother who will protect you if you support him. If you support the big guy, you can do whatever you want. The laws are only enforced when it benefits AKP somehow. We are talking about a PM whose nephew was caught with
50 kilograms (110 pounds) of cannabis, and managed to walk free. Drug laws are more strict at Turkey than USA, but I'm sure you guys don't allow people to carry a drug shipment in their cars either.
I think one day Erdoğan thought "Eh, fuck it" and started pushing the throttle-o-dictatorship to the max. Now he has broken the throttle with an uproarious sound and everyone can hear it's echos. I think all these slow processes started to bore him. After people had it enough and started protesting, he expected everyone to calm down after a few days. I think he is yet to realize the seriousness of the situation because he keeps getting more harsher with his statements. He said that it would be best to hang the people who are spreading "lies" from Twitter with the trees at Gezi Park. He lied about 17 people getting killed in the Occupy Wall Street movement. There are lots of things I can say about Erdoğan right now but I think these are enough to show that this guy is not the compromising democratic type and he will just make things worse.
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Topic: Arab Spring springs to Turkey (Read 42957 times)