Posting from an internet cafe atm. I'm away from İstanbul and internet and the only information I have is from the rare independent non-ass-licking Turkish media. Erdoğan gathered with some artists 2 days earlier to discuss the issue. I'm pretty sure the protestors won't give a shit about what comes out of these discussions until a representive group joins the discussions, not some random actors and musicians who are likely to compromise.
So... Turkey has a pretty long history of secular governance, right? Since 1920 or so?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kemalist_ideology
Why is it regressing into theocracy now?
In the good ol' days, Erdoğan came off as a humble religious man trying to uphold the unpopular idea of Islamism. He was seen as "people's leader" of some sorts. He turned into this after 10 years of power. I watched some old videos of him speaking about various issues and he pretty much always contradicts with what he is now. He talked about how building the 3. bridge will destroy enviroment etc and now he is trying to demolish a park.
Democracy is like a tool for dictators now. Erdoğan said so himself, "Democracy is like a ship you had to take while trying to reach somewhere" or something like that.
Turks hate it when Turkey is being compared to Middle East. "People still think we are riding camels and wearing fes" is a common thing to say when people are talking about tourists. Anyway, if Turkey must be compared to a region other than Europe, than it would be better to compare it to Asian Turkic nations.
Anyway, AKP keeps trying to polarize the people. Nothing new really. People get paid 100 TLs for joining the AKP rallies and absentees get into trouble. I have even seen a woman at an AKP rally saying "We are behind Kılıçdaroğlu! (Main opposition party leader)." It's ridicilous to see how brainless some people can get.
AKP is trying to go for a referandum too, it seems. This didn't make the protestors happy, because protestors are the minority. It's like if Hitler made a referendum about something which Jews hate but Nazis love. This further supports my theory about how Erdoğan misunderstoods Democracy as something like "Dominance of the majority over the minority"
My favorite picture from the Turkish protests so far.
Epic Slingshot Granny
For some reason, I consider her Asian cause of the skin tone and the hairstyle. Can't see the eyes at all.
Seems Turkish to me. Could be an Asian Turk. Not only Chinese and Japanese people have that "Asian" look you know
It's amazing how a protest bring people together. This isn't a young movement anymore. I have seen people in their 70s and 80s protesting in Taksim. There are also lots of women. You can hear women's screams louder than men's when chanting a slogan sometimes.
Cutting this short. I might be absent for a long time.