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 Topic: What's actually happening in Istanbul?

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  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     OP - June 04, 2013, 10:13 AM
    More to the point, is the general thrust of this article - partially quoted below - accurate?

    Quote
    Yesterday, the riot police pulled out of Gezi Park. Cries of triumph echoed through the city. But the exuberance was short-lived, for the Robocops quickly turned their attention to gassing the rest of Istanbul. Beşiktaş (where the prime minister keeps his office), Dolmabahçe, Gaziosmanpaşa, and Baghdad Avenue became the new blood lands. So did the cities of Ankara, Antalya, Izmir, Adana, Kocaeli, Mersin, and Eskişehir. Interior Minister Muammer Güler announced that as of yesterday evening, 235 demonstrations had taken place over six days in 67 provinces, with 1,730 people detained. Unconfirmed reports tell of torture in Istanbul police stations.

    The news from Ankara and Izmir has been particularly disgusting. Police threw gas bombs at the capital’s famous Swan Park, injuring (yes) the swans. Last night a friend, an MP from the main opposition party and a tireless campaigner for Internet freedom in Turkey, told me that his daughter, a junior in law school, had been wounded. She had sent him an SMS: “Police gassed the infirmary.” He asked if I would let the American media know. Police in Izmir called female protestors “sluts” and assaulted them; people there were begging to be let into buildings to escape. A journalist whom I trust, based in Izmir, wrote: “I’m telling you. No one threw one single stone this evening where I am. They are still gassing peaceful people.”

    Friends have called to say that their social-media access has been restricted or blocked. Turkey’s telecoms regulator claims that this is due to a traffic surge, rather than an official block, which is plausible. But trust in the government, at this point, is low, to put it mildly.

    Erdoğan may believe that he can outlast the protesters, and he may be right, particularly if the protesters succumb to the temptations of violence and vandalism. So far, they have been reasonably constrained. But the Robocops are exhausted—photos are circulating of them falling asleep on the street—and if there is one thing a prime minister best known for “taming the military” can’t do, it is to call in the army to settle things down. If the protests keep escalating and the crackdown intensifies, it’s hard to see how this can end well. Best case: the protests will spook the prime minister and give him a much-needed dose of humility. Worst case: The protests will spook the prime minister and leave him even more paranoid and vengeful.

    Unfortunately, the early signs point toward the second scenario. Speaking of these events yesterday for the first time since the protests began, Erdoğan announced that the police had come under attack, and that the main opposition party and “certain media organizations” had provoked the events. He threatened to take the fight even deeper into the streets: “If they’ve got 20,000 people to go to Taksim, I can get 500,000 to turn out in Kazlıçeşme. We have that strength. . . . What is happening is entirely ideological. This approach is targeting my government, my person, and the municipal elections. They are thinking about how they can take the municipal authority from the AK Party.” He then suggested that anyone who drinks is an alcoholic—though he subsequently clarified that one or two drinks a year might be alright—and denounced Twitter, which has been trending for days with the slogan, “Tayyip, Resign!” That obviously displeased him. “There is now a menace which is called Twitter,” he said, and “the best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society.” Just last week, he thought it was alcohol. He did concede that the police had been a touch excessive. The words came out of his mouth, but there was no corresponding remorse on his face.

    Before it gets too late, you will find escape.
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #1 - June 05, 2013, 09:44 AM
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djz2r6AJ9as

    http://rabble.ie/2013/06/04/fortress-taksim/

    Quote
    Monday in Gezi Park saw the protestors fortify the camp and evaluate the progress of the Taksim Uprising. Internally, measures were put in place to strengthen the autonomous structures of the liberated space while on the outside barricades were constructed to protect it from police attack. People were settling into a regular pattern of daylight festivities and night time confrontation.

    A supply centre was constructed at the front of the second square to distribute the donations that flow in by the hour. A small group had been organising this for days, but they now had a distinct fenced-off area to work in, made from appropriated police fences. The volunteer organisers wear armbands made from plastic bags to let those in the park know they can receive donations. Mostly they take in packet food, multipack bottles of water, blankets and clothes. The call for supplies goes out informally – they tell people around them what they need and they put it on Facebook or Twitter. There are no centrally issued communications but within an hour or so what they need will arrive.

    Ekin Medeni is a young worker living in Istanbul. She is one of the thirty or forty organisers, most of whom are students but some of those directing activities appear to be older – those who were here from the beginning. They are citizens, she says, not members of political parties and they are building structures for a camp that will last.

    “I was the fifth person who came here, I only brought bags to give to someone who co-ordinated things. At first we were a small group and then more came and we had needed a space.”

    People in the supply centre work shifts, not of set times but for as long as they feel they can. For those like Ekin who are working the shift starts after work at 6. She lives in Besiktas and has been helping out protestors there as they confront the police. “I go because they need us there also. We can’t bring them food or anything, though, because of the police.”

    Organised political parties and groups tend to converge around stalls inside and outside the park. One of these is Revolutionary Anarchist Action (DAF), an anarchist-communist collective and the oldest organisation of that persuasion in Turkey. They distribute flyers and their Meydan newspaper, which has decent production specs for a free political paper.

    One of DAF’s members in Istanbul is Özlem Arkun. She says that protestors have already won some victories in the last week. “The courts stopped demolition of Gezi Park so we can say the people have won here. But this is not just about the park, it is bigger. We know that in a few weeks the actions could be over, people could return to their work and this space could be empty. But this will still be an opportunity for a new start for the struggle. What has happened this week will have a lot of impact on the social memory. People realise what can be done if they move together.”

    She argues changing the daily life of the people and the city is key for the continuation of the gains made in the Taksim Uprising, but also holds out hope that the general strike this week might broaden the reach of political radicalisation among workers. But she didn’t agree that the movement was middle-class – although it had its genesis there, it had become much more mixed as it expanded.

    The Green Left party, a recent merger of the Green Party and the Labour and Democracy Party, also had a stall in Gezi Park. A member of their co-ordinating committee Ayse Öklem told us that although the Taksim Uprising also contained those who wanted the old Turkey, before the AKP, back – such as nationalists and Kemalists – the majority were looking for something new. The large number of those who consider themselves non-political owed, she said, to the issues of public space and individual rights, which transcended formal politics.

    Ayse also felt the character of the police intervention in Gezi Park was pivotal to the development of the protests. “If, on the first day, the police had come and laughed at us I think we would have 2,000 or 3,000 people. But when they use violence more people will come, and every time such a movement will grow.”

    She doesn’t believe, however, that economic inequality is something which motivates the protests. Although the gap between rich and poor is large here it has been larger in living memory. However, she argues that “aggressive capitalism” is a factor – the corporate elitism that pushes people out of common areas in Istanbul with privatisation. Taksim is more about the battle between public and private than rich and poor, and across the country it owes more to the desire for more for civic power than redistribution of wealth.

    Gezi Park also plays home to LGBT activists, who were among the first to join the occupation of the park. One, Eylem, tells us that gay and transgender people often feel like they have to live in the closet. She says the crowd in Gezi Park is united and focusing on protecting the liberated space but also that the progress of the Islamist movement has been particularly bad for the LGBT community. “They don’t want to see us in public or to give us more rights. We think they don’t want us here at all. But we feel relaxed in Taksim.”

    Ulfet, a member of the ‘Feministler’ group of women’s rights activists, says that Islamism should be seen in the context of conservative religious movements across the world – not as specific to Islam. “Here they are trying to take away our right to abortion, to make us cover our heads, to make us be quiet in society. But they do these things everywhere. Just they have more power here now than other places. We are not anti-religion but we are against this control over our lives.”

    The mood in the park on Monday night was one of nervous anticipation as it was the second in a row that protestors held Taksim. If the park itself was reclaimed space that had spread onto the square, then the areas on the other sides of the park are space for confrontation with police. The roads leading up to the square are strongly barricaded as protestors have dug themselves in. The developments at night here have a very tactical flavour to them. The police take the square; the protesters hold Istiklal avenue to the south. The police clear Istiklal, and minutes later ; protesters have swarmed back from the side streets as if nothing had changed.

    Police started dropping tear gas around Taksim from high flying helicopters at around 9:30 pm but there was no sign of ground units. We initially thought this was a diversionary tactic to distract the world media, which has now set its sights on the square, from the brutal sweeps of the predominantly studenty area of Besiktas. We received reports that it was subject to even harsher police action than previous nights. We were told local businesses were forced to close to prevent them from harbouring fleeing demonstrators, and even the danger-prone student search and rescue teams were warned by their logistical coordinators to stay away.

    However, a ceasefire was negotiated in Besiktas by around 1am between police and the broadly anarchist Çarşi football supporters club, with agreed boundaries.

    We also heard that contrary to Prime Minister Erdogan’s seemingly beneficent statements struggling to keep his supporters from attacking demonstrators, his party doesn’t actually really have that kind of support beyond isolated incidents.

    After the ceasefire, many of the protesters in Besiktas moved to reinforce the massive crowd at Taksim. We witnessed the the construction of the huge barricades out of construction materials on the roads leafing up to Gezi on the previous night. Even then, the atmosphere of those sites was of anticipated conflict as opposed to the festivities of the park.

    Police helicopters were a constant presence over Taksim on the Monday night, making flyovers across the park, but their effect was limited in potentially two enterprising ways. We didn’t witness the first, in which demonstrators deem to have found a way to limit of the gas by picking up the canisters after they land and trapping them in a box.We saw this method in a video making the rounds on social media which was filmed in Ankara, but don’t know that it was employed in Taksim. The second, which we did see, was that demonstrators shone strong lasers from the park at incoming helicopters, severely limiting their visibility from the air. In the UK and USA, people have received lengthy Jail terms for using single lasers, and there were at least fifty in the park.

    Police ground units did eventually show up at Taksim. They had been at the first barricade of the northern road leading to Gezi park since just before midnight, and they showed up to the Eastern road with heavily armoured trucks equipped with water cannons. They too were stopped at the first barricades. It is likely that the police were testing the resistance of the perimeter. The ceasefire at Besiktas worked against them then, because it countered their observed strategy of divide and conquer by trapping and crushing small numbers of protesters. They allowed the heavy cavalry to rejoin the base.

    It is hard to see how the police will deal with the challenge to their authority posed by an occupation of critics in one of the most central areas in the heart of Istanbul. Mounting an assault will be a far more serious operation than the tent burnings of last Thursday.


    Paul Mason reports from ‪#OccupyGezi‬ last night:
    http://vimeo.com/67696256

    Noam Chomsky:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eCwLfhwRHdQ
    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #2 - June 05, 2013, 10:41 PM
    Live updates: http://turkishspring.nadir.org/index_eng.html
    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #3 - June 06, 2013, 11:54 AM
    http://muslimmatters.org/2013/06/03/ten-tweets-on-the-hypocrisy-of-the-turkey-protests/

    Quote from: ZooBear 

    • Surah Al-Fil: In an epic game of Angry Birds, Allah uses birds (that drop pebbles) to destroy an army riding elephants whose intentions were to destroy the Kaaba. No one has beaten the high score.

  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #4 - June 06, 2013, 01:51 PM
    Quote from: Jila on June 06, 2013, 11:54 AM
    http://muslimmatters.org/2013/06/03/ten-tweets-on-the-hypocrisy-of-the-turkey-protests/


    On that Turkey’s Protests,  loonwatch.com is one up on muslimmatters.org 

    comments from classic supporters of GaribaldiLoons at loonwatch
    Quote
    ..... I think many Muslim haters confuse separation of Mosque and State as being anti-Islam. The two are entirely different.......

    .....Islamophobes have often tried to spread the meme that Islam and democracy are incompatible. Generally, the only people who agree with them are the reactionary Islamists themselves!.....


    so this question comes again and again whether Islam is compatible with democracy or not?  As usual many well educated Muslims get confused  and say " Islam is compatible with democracy " instead of saying  "Muslims are  compatible with democracy "
    ... Off course Muslims are compatible with democracy ... 

    and  I will also say Muslim majority nations are also compatible  with democracy when they elect non-Muslims in to their parliaments and non-Muslim become leaders   to represent Muslim majority nations..

    until then I keep my fingers crossed..
    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim     
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #5 - June 08, 2013, 01:23 PM
    propaganda....propaganda....and propaganda  from every where. This is from other side.. The Shia side..

    Mohammed Army is coming - Islamic Invitation Turkey

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUJwtJn13M0&feature=player_embedded

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuByL33nlrY

    That is shia songs from Turkey  ....  The Shia side dreams of Iran/Turkey and Syrian problem.  Where as common Turks  looking for freedom.,  freedom  of expression  and freedom from religious oppression.... this is what is going there

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcT6-0Cz-RI


    Turkish officials admit the police response to the initial protest was excessive..

    Off course  we will here songs from sunni side
    "......alallalallallalaaal....... Jihad from Shia and   alallalallallalaaal....... Jihad from sunni...  "

    stupid fools, kill  each other for nothing.,  for some stupid after life that is written in some stupid books
    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim     
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #6 - June 09, 2013, 10:16 AM
    Paul Mason's latest report from Istanbul: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22814291
    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #7 - June 09, 2013, 04:24 PM
    From http://occupiedtaksim.blogspot.co.uk/
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJvgTG6yTrw
    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #8 - June 09, 2013, 11:49 PM
    Podcast:  “We don’t want them to decide how we live” – Interview with Radyo Gezi

    Quote
    Radyo Gezi is broadcasting from a tent in the park and can be received as FM radio around Taksim square. You can listen to the stream from all around the world – there’s news in English at 12:30 and 19:30 now every day, and in between interviews with the activists and groups who [have been] protesting for two weeks now.

    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #9 - June 10, 2013, 12:20 AM
    Essentially Erdogan has resorted to thuggish sloganeering and distorting of the truth. Bad times in turkey, bad times indeed. the opposition centre left party will not be able to save Turkey from the economic inevitable downturn. Erdogan should have taken heed of the (comparitively) more moderate Abdullah Gul in his party.
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #10 - June 10, 2013, 12:22 AM
    *inevitable economic downturn*, slightly drunk.
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #11 - June 10, 2013, 03:56 AM
    Quote
    Stories of the Turkish 'unrest' have been rampant and confusing in the past two weeks. They've been interesting to some extent. I thoroughly enjoyed the pictures of the whirling dervish in a gas mask; he was unequivocally iconic. The pictures of the colorfully dressed yogis at Gezi Park were equally intriguing.

    However, equating the protests in Istanbul’s Taksim Square with those held two years ago in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, and calling the Turkish unrest a "Turkish Summer" comparable to the "Arab Spring" is ridiculous. The Turks are not uninstalling a totalitarian despot; rather, certain social groups are voicing their concern with their Prime minister’s alleged authoritativeness. These groups are not necessarily representative of the country’s mainstream political sentiment, but they are nonetheless entitled to speak out.


    I am no specialist of Turkey’s internal politics, and I don't intend to delve deep into a debate that is probably more complex than meets the eye. However—and I am speaking here from the perspective of a pro-democracy, Arab Spring supporter—there is no doubt that Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a democratically elected leader. He was jailed for reciting poetry deemed offensive to the authorities in the late 1990's. One might disagree with his government’s town planning policies, but there is no doubt that Istanbul was gentrified, converted back from the giant slum it was a decade ago, to the majestic city history has cemented it to be.

    Let us not forget that under Erdogan, Turkey’s GDP has tripled, pulling millions of Turks out of poverty and boosting a thriving middle class.  Last but not east, Erdogan made his country a regional and international powerhouse, by creating a revolutionary foreign policy that rendered his neighbors' joke worthy—one that rattled the offices of the US State Department, European Foreign Ministries, and taught Israel that its actions do not go unscrutinized. I would personally cheer up to any Arab leader with half that record.

    What happened in Gezi Park was obviously unfortunate. The projected destruction of the park is indeed a debatable matter, and police forces must be held accountable of the unnecessary brutality with which they met peaceful protesters. Yet taking the plunge right away and calling Erdogan on that ground an illegitimate, autocratic leader is ludicrous.

    Some Kemalist secular activists in Turkey claim that the protests that followed the Gezi Park fiasco were an expression of long-standing frustration over Erdogan’s rule. They accuse him, and arguably rightfully so, of dealing with the crisis carelessly and with a large ego, as his statements indicated. But they are also quick to let you know that the protests have “grown beyond Gezi Park.” They accuse Erdogan, the “Islamic boogeyman”, of having a master plan of trying to abolish alcohol consumption in Turkey. They cite the law that alcohol cannot be sold after 10 pm—among other laws—as evidence. The sale of alcohol is prohibited within 100 meters of a mosque, church or school, and alcohol brands cannot advertise on TV, billboards, or sporting events. And Erdogan and the AKP are against abortion.

    Those who pinpoint Erdogan as the archenemesis of secular democracy are blindsided. Sometimes, secular advocates can be their own worst enemies.
    I don’t know whoever perpetuated the pipe dream that Erdogan is a liberal. He and his party, the AKP, are undeniably right-wing. They are a conservative party within a multi-party secular democracy. There are similar laws on alcohol in Pennsylvania; and in the United States, conservatives tend to be “pro-life” and less lenient with alcohol sales, especially late at night and near schools. Alcohol is legal in Turkey, and little indicates that it will ever cease to be so. To cite alcohol regulation and the Gezi Park incident as grounds for Erdogan’s impeachment is beyond unreasonable.

    I adhere to secularism—as a set of values that enshrines individual freedoms, including freedom of expression and conscience—; but radical secularism is a disease. It is guilty of what secularism initially set out to correct by separating Church and State: dogmatic blindness, intolerance, and almost cultic aversion to pluralism.

    I posted on Facebook that “Erdogan will always remain a legend”, because he is one of the very few democratically elected leaders in a country with Islamic heritage who guaranteed secular freedoms while presiding over tremendous economic growth and social empowerment for millions of his compatriots (notwithstanding the foreign policy achievements I underlined earlier). That is my opinion, one that I am entitled to and that anyone else is entitled to disagree with. Yet it was marked as spam or as “inappropriate” by those who did not agree. My Facebook post was deleted 7 times, and I still cannot post it. My friends had to post it on their own walls so that I may share it on mine.

    Those who deleted my status did so because they thought I did not understand their struggle for “freedom” and civil rights. They were fighting a “dictatorial” Erdogan who “stood in the way of (their) civil liberties”, yet they had no qualms with stripping me of my own right to freedom of speech. I cringed at Erdogan’s comments on social media being a place for liars and extremists, yet after I was blatantly censored for voicing my opinion, I find it difficult not to tentatively agree—to some extent and without generalization—with his characterization.

    Sometimes, secular advocates can be their own worst enemies. What is certain is that, by pinpointing Erdogan as secularism’s archnemesis, they dogmatically blindside themselves. And they miss an opportunity to remind the world of what secularism is first and foremost about: balance and reasonableness.


    http://freearabs.com/index.php/politics/69-stories/662-jb-span-opinion-jb-span-taksim-is-not-tahrir
    Quote from: ZooBear 

    • Surah Al-Fil: In an epic game of Angry Birds, Allah uses birds (that drop pebbles) to destroy an army riding elephants whose intentions were to destroy the Kaaba. No one has beaten the high score.

  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #12 - June 10, 2013, 10:02 AM
    For background on Turkey's 'economic miracle', and some of the underlying reasons for the protests, here's Ekümenopolis, a documentary on the redevelopment of Istanbul.

    Quote
    "Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits" tells the story of Istanbul and other Mega-Cities on a neo-liberal course to destruction. It follows the story of a migrant family from the demolition of their neighborhood to their on-going struggle for housing rights. The film takes a look at the city on a macro level and through the eyes of experts, going from the tops of mushrooming skyscrapers to the depths of the railway tunnel under the Bosphorous strait; from the historic neighborhoods in the south to the forests in the north; from isolated islands of poverty to the villas of the rich. It's an Istanbul going from 15 million to 30 million. It's an Istanbul going from 2 million cars to 8 million. It's the Istanbul of the future that will soon engulf the entire region. It's an Istanbul nobody has ever seen before.



    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maEcPKBXV0M&feature=player_embedded
    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #13 - June 10, 2013, 10:27 AM
    Quote
    Why the Turkish protests matter to the west

    This isn't just about lipstick – if Turkey can't reconcile secularism, Islam and democracy, there will be global repercussions


    Şafak Pavey

    Secularism: what does it mean to the people of Turkey? Is it simply a question of whether we can buy alcohol when we please, or whether the cabin crew of Turkish airlines are allowed to wear red lipstick? It cannot simply be these eye-catching issues, beloved of the media, that have brought people out on to the streets in their tens of thousands. Let me draw a different picture of the current challenges to secularism in Turkey, as protesters continue to express their frustration with a government that seems to be defined by inflexible religiosity.

    Education, for one thing, is in peril. Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) party has given the lion's share of the budget to mosques and religious schools, cutting schools that provide secular education adrift. There are 67,000 schools and 85,000 mosques. Over the past few months, in Istanbul alone, 98 primary schools have been converted into state-run religious Imam Hatip schools. A woman complained to me in my capacity as an opposition MP that her daughter's school of 1,200 students was turned into an Imam Hatip school with a capacity of only 320. Soon, only children of the well-to-do will be able to receive a secular education. "What are we, the poor, supposed to do?" she asked me.

    Freedom of speech is also threatened. It is well known that Turkey has more imprisoned journalists than any other country, but as a result of the chilling effect of these prosecutions on the press, many stories never make the news. The government is quick to clamp down on dissent.

    The government has embarked on a process of reshaping Turkey. In our country today, politics – and many other aspects of social and economic life – are increasingly differentiated on the basis of how pious people are. It takes great courage to eat in public during the month of Ramadan fasting. Religion classes in schools teach the protocols of worship instead of religious philosophy. Those, such as the Alevis, who do not embrace the Sunni tradition, are considered adversaries by the government. While the impeccable legal status that was previously accorded to women has not been challenged, profound transformations in women's social status have taken place, and the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, urges them to stay at home and have more children.

    Corruption is rampant. The government now employs public sector workers according to their religious knowledge, rather than their scores in the civil service examinations. By securing privileged positions for their adherents in education and the bureaucracy, the government has dealt a serious blow to the already fragile democratic tradition in our country. We shook off the leaden hand of the military only to find that pious politicians who claimed to be working for equality have placed an equally heavy burden of autocracy and intolerance on us.

    The same Turkey that today finds itself in this position was considered a beacon after its establishment in 1923, an important laboratory where a modern and secular government was reconciled with a Muslim society, however delicate that synthesis might have been. It was widely believed that Turkey's transformation set a model for the rest of the Islamic world. The hope was that the reforms of the new republic would be carried over to future generations.

    I certainly do not support excluding faith from public life. But political Islam in our country does not content itself with the role of moral guide. Rather it aspires to mould everyone to the same imagined pious Sunni national character by wrapping society in restrictive rules, ostensibly for the public's own welfare, and then policing citizens and punishing those who disagree.

    What is worse is that our rising apprehension about the direction our government is taking finds no audience among those in the west who would never tolerate such politics and restrictions in their own countries. The discourse of the west and the attitudes of its leaders are important because they influence public debate in Turkey. However, the west, understandably obsessed by its own security concerns and strategies, looks the other way at the Turkish government's abuses. As a member of the opposition, what I want is not for the west to intervene in our internal affairs, but for it to stop shielding a government with such little regard for the values of freedom.

    Who else will be able to reconcile Islam, secularism and democracy once Turkey fails? What are the global consequences of this failure?

    I urge those in the west who believe that Turkey and the globe benefit from a democracy whose fabric is interwoven with religion to look again at what that fabric looks like today – our society's rights shredded in the name of yet another intolerant majority.

    Bear in mind how valuable a secular Turkey is for the world. Do not forfeit the last secularists in the Middle East to the purge that is taking place in the name of democracy, as if a lower level of rights is somehow "good enough" for our region, when you would never accept such restrictions in yours – just as France used to stamp the university diplomas earned by its Arab colonial subjects "Bon pour l'orient" (good enough for the Orient).

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/10/turkish-protests-west

    "we can smell traitors and country haters"


    Quote from: arX on May 01, 2011, 03:33 AM
    God is Love.
    Love is Blind. Stevie Wonder is blind. Therefore, Stevie Wonder is God.

  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #14 - June 10, 2013, 12:16 PM
    Turkish game show host packs show with references to Gezi park and the ongoing protests (Turkish):
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivmWJ5oYKWw

    Blog post about the Turkish media coverage of the protests with a translation of the questions:
    http://technosociology.org/?p=1297

  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #15 - June 11, 2013, 08:55 AM
    Police move in on Taksim:

    http://turkishspring.nadir.org/index_eng.html

    11.33:
    [Istanbul] Police attack on SDP regional offices is continuing. Police is attacking the stranded people using tear gas grenades and plastic bullets.

    11.30:
    [Istanbul] Egitim-Sen (The union of education sector) is calling for a strike at 12:30pm (Istanbul time). They are calling everyone to Taksim.

    11.27:
    [Istanbul] People have begun to gather in Siraselviler Caddesi / Street.

    11.26:
    [Istanbul] A sitting vigil has begun in Taksim Square in front of the TOMA and police barricades.

    11.23:
    [Istanbul] Halkevleri is calling everyone to Taksim.

    11.22:
    [Istanbul] The human chain was broken but the masses are still there. People are chanting "Taksim is ours, Istanbul is ours."

    11.12:
    [Istanbul] Police is attacking the human chain with teargas.

    11.07:
    [Istanbul] The human chain is getting larger. Photo



    11.02:
    [Istanbul] At Siraselviler region, the public is protesting the police attack by banging on the poles and fences.

    10.58:
    [Istanbul] Hundreds of people have formed a human chain which is walking towards the police. The police had to retreat to the Ataturk monument.

    10.57:
    [Istanbul] Many wounded on Taksim Square and its neighborhood by the police attacks.

    10.56:
    [Istanbul] The barricade in Gezi Parkı has been set on fire. The number of clashes around BEDAŞ building and on Tarlabaşı Avenue lessened relatively.

    10.55:
    [Istanbul] Governer Mutlu: Our police is counteracting appropriately to the marginal groups fighting against the police.

    10.54:
    [Istanbul] Police is firing teargas around Gezi Park. Protesters throw slogans: "Government Resign!"

    10.50:
    [Istanbul] İstanbul governer Hüzeyin Avni Mutlu is giving a press report.

    10.39:
    [Istanbul] Police has used many tear gas bombs at the Gezi Park. The resistance is throwing them back. The scuffles are getting wilder in the Harbiye direction.

    10.38:
    [Istanbul] The human chain formed by "Taksim Dayanismasi" ("Taksim Solidarity") has blocked the way of the TOMA.

    10.36:
    [Istanbul] Taksim Solidarity formed a human chain in the square that covers the metro exit.

    10.35:
    [Istanbul] Police is trying to detain people around the SDP İstanbul main office.

    10.34:
    [Istanbul] Hundreds of people are marching with slogans:" Together against fascism" to the Taksim square from Tarlabaşı.

    10.32:
    [Istanbul] While conflicts are continuing in Taksim square, the protesters still keep Gezi Park.

    10.26:
    [Istanbul] Police surrounded the SDP party İstanbul main office in Tarlabaşı.

    10.23:
    [Istanbul] Police is firing teargas to the Harbiye from the Şişli side of Gezi Park, protesters throw back the gas canisters.

    10.19:
    [Istanbul] Police is not letting the public buses move ahead of the Ömer Hayyam stop.

    10.13:
    [Istanbul] In Tarlabaşı one TOMA is on fire. Another TOMA is trying to extinguish the fire. Photo



    10.10:
    [Istanbul] Two armored vehicles is trying to put down the fire in the TOMA, while police is firing teargas. Protesters keep firing fireworks.

    10.06:
    [Istanbul] Gezi Park is under teargas.

    10.05:
    [Istanbul] In Taksim square police is in defence position while protesters are firing fireworks agains the police.

    10.02:
    [Istanbul] DISK (Revolutionary Workers Union) General Secretary, Arzu Çerkezoğlu said: The government should do something. The whole thing is not just about illegal signs. The PM should not divert the context.

    09.59:
    [Istanbul] Conflicts in Tarlabaşı continues. TOMAs are continously firing pressured water.

    09.53:
    [Istanbul] Police fired teargas everywhere in Taksim. TOMAs are continously firing pressured water.

    09.48:
    [Istanbul] Slogans are heard from Gezi Parkı: Police Out!.

    09.46:
    [Istanbul] The masses who set barricades around Tarlabaşı is throwing back the gas canisters.

    09.39:
    [Izmir] People in İzmir marching from the Talat Paşa Boulevard to Gündoğdu square to support the people in Taksim.

    09.35:
    [Istanbul] Conflicts are continueing in Taksim. Protesters are throwing back the gas canisters back to the police.

    09.30:
    [Istanbul] Police hit a boy with his shield who was standing in front of the armored police vehicle.

    09.15:
    [Istanbul] From the square, the slogans; " This is the beginning, continue struggle" are heard.

    09.08:
    [Istanbul] The demonstrators at the square [Taksim] are crying out slogans such as "Everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance".

    09.05:
    [Istanbul]The clashes continues around Tarlabaşı, the area is covered with tear gas cloud. The protesters are still in the square with their flags, banners.

    09.00:
    [Istanbul] Police began attacking with tear gas and water canons. The square is covered with tear gas.

    08.58:
    [Istanbul] There are still protesters in the square resisting against police vehicles. TOMA and protesters clashing.

    08.50:
    [Istanbul] Police captured all the roads to the Taksim square.

    08.47:
    [Istanbul] Ahmet Saymadı mentioned this message from his twitter account: "Now we have observed these days! Our friend, Hayko Bağdat, is talking on the police wireless to the people around. He is trying to calm down the people! Hayko Bağdat has been previously mentions in the list to hold the negotiations with the PM Tayyip Erdoğan who denied demands of the Gezi Parkı solidarities."

    08.35:
    [Istanbul] In Harbiye region the tear gas bombs are thrown back to the police. In Tarlabaşı fireworks are set, in Gezi Parkı "Everywhere Taksim, Everywhere is resistance" slogans are heard. Police anouncement in Gezi Parkı: "Set apart the marginals among you".

    08.30:
    [Istanbul] Police who invaded Taksim square and already shot too many teargas announced; " Obey the warnings from the police, we will not intervene you unless you do not stop throwing stones. Please continue your activities at the park. As you can see, we do not want to hurt you".

    08.27:
    [Istanbul] Police surrounded AKM and Taksim square. They continue to attack with tear gas and water cannons towards Tarlabaşı, yet the police forces that occupied Taksim square do not proceed any further at the moment.

    08.24:
    [Istanbul] The İstanbul Mayor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu wrote on twitter "Gezi Parkı and Taksim will absolutely not be touched, you wont be touched. From this morning onwards you are entrusted to your police brothers". Meanwhile police began attacking Taksim with tear gas, construction vehicles and water canons.

    08.20:
    [Istanbul] Police is moving along to Sıraselviler with a bulldozer. They are attacking to the people who set barricades with tear gas and pressured water around Harbiye.

    08.19:
    [Istanbul] An excavater is moving to the barricades from Tarlabaşı.

    08.09:
    [Istanbul] Armored police vehicle is in Istiklal Street.

    08.08:
    [Istanbul] At the entrance of Sıraselviler there is a TOMA. Due to the baricade on its way it cannot proceed. Police tries to open the baricade with their hands.

    08.06:
    [Istanbul] TOMAs are firing pressured water to the Harbiye area. There is an intervention to the Talimane entry.

    08.03:
    [Istanbul] Two TOMAs are heading to the Tarlabaşı Avenue from the Taksim square. They fire pressured water to the BEDAŞ area.

    08.02:
    [Istanbul] Police is attacking to the Tarlabaşı and Sıraselviler arrea by teargas while people resist.

    08.01:
    [Istanbul] People are resisting the police.

    07.59:
    [Istanbul] Police is using teargas and sound bombs.

    07.54:
    [Istanbul] Police intervene Taksim Square by teargas.

    07.50:
    [Istanbul] Police is in Taksim square, they are trying to put down the signs and flags. They deliver announcements such as police will not intervene to the Gezi Park.

    07.47:
    [Istanbul] Police is not moving around Tarlabaşı but they fire teargas. There are civilians holding signs in fron of the Taksim Statue, police is planning an attack on them.

    07.30:
    [Istanbul] Riot police is heading towards Taksim Square from Gümüşsuyu. They started firing reargas.
    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #16 - June 11, 2013, 08:34 PM
    Quote from: zeca on June 11, 2013, 08:55 AM
    Police move in on Taksim:
    ...........................


    it appears things are going from bad to worst there zeca..

    Turkey Protests Riot Police Clash With Activists
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8vs5Pf6R7s

    Turkish PM Erdogan remains defiant
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhHgvyNO39k

    Hmmm  Great TURKEY in police uniform  good job..
    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim     
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #17 - June 12, 2013, 09:36 AM


    http://turkishawakening.com/2013/06/12/grim-awakening/
    Quote
    The rain comes down this morning like a wake for the events of yesterday. It’s always relatively quiet at this time of day in Taksim Square, but there is a dispirited atmosphere today, and the wind is surprisingly bitter for June. Those camping in the park will be wet and miserable – especially after police entered the park at 2AM this morning (having fired tear gas into it throughout the evening), and told everyone to leave.

    Dishonesty and bullying tactics characterized the government yesterday. The Governor of Istanbul promised that this wasn’t about Gezi Park. So why were the police going in? He promised that the intervention was about removing banners from the AKM building – those banners were gone by mid-morning, what was going on the rest of yesterday?

    Reneged promises are one thing, but what about plain lies? This is what the Governor said about the police firing tear gas into an unarmed crowd yesterday around 8PM:

    “The site was left for the citizens that wished to perform their demonstration scheduled for 7 p.m. However 30-35 people attacked the police stationed in front of the Atatürk Cultural Center with different materials”.

    This is just not true. I was there, and no one was throwing anything. There had been previous skirmishes with a handful of people throwing things, but definitely not at that point. The police fired gas canisters into a chanting crowd, armed only with flags. The thing that worries me is that most people in Turkey were not there, and the Governor of Istanbul is telling them something they have no reason to disbelieve. That, I find really frightening.

    The government are full of talk of “marginal groups”, urging “our youth” to leave the area for our own safety. The only threats to our safety are dressed in riot gear, armed to the teeth, paid for by taxpayers’ money to terrorize peaceful protesters. That may sound hysterical, but it is true. Erdogan declares his patience has run out – I wonder what will happen if we go on testing it.


    http://turkishawakening.com/2013/06/12/update-morning-of-12th-june/
    Quote
    The Supreme Council of Radio and Television has fined several news channels for “harming the physical, moral and mental development of children and young people” by showing live footage of the protests. This is a typically tragi-comic development, not particularly surprising but still shocking in its self-serving repression of freedom of speech and information.

    After the events of yesterday, the Taksim Solidarity group due to meet with Erdogan have refused to have anything to do with him. Not sure if that is constructive in terms of PR (it would have been a useless meeting anyway, as his mind is clearly made up, but might have promoted the credibility of the protests to other Turks). Erdogan will instead be meeting with some celebrities.

    Severe injury list released by the Istanbul Medical Association, from representatives stationed in Gezi Park yesterday:

       ▪   3 central nervous system damage due to head wounds
       ▪   3 arm and leg fractures
       ▪   9 plastic bullet wounds
       ▪   1 Achilles tendon cut
       ▪   1 chest trauma
       ▪   1 skull fracture

    At 7.30 PM yesterday, a doctor working in the makeshift medical centre in Gezi Park said the centre had treated 550 people so far that day, suffering from tear gas inhalation and canister wounds. That was before the police redoubled their efforts around 8PM – I don’t yet have figures for the whole of yesterday, and more serious injuries will have been treated at hospital, not the medical centre. Since protests began, over 5,000 people have been injured.

    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #18 - June 12, 2013, 09:06 PM
    http://turkishawakening.com/2013/06/12/interview-with-a-cop-on-the-eve-of-battle/
    Quote
    Gezi Park looks like a refugee camp this evening; everyone is tense and worried, expecting war. They are passing supplies, giving out helmets and masks or just sitting glumly, waiting. The party atmosphere of two days ago is gone – people aren’t smiling anymore. Erdogan announced earlier that the park would be cleared in 24 hours, so most people are expecting the police to crack down in the next few hours, to complete the evacuation by morning. I left the park with difficulty, because the young men guarding the edges of the park are not keen on traffic in and out of the area. After yesterday, everyone is worried about secret police – the trusting, all-inclusive vibe is gradually being replaced by nerves and suspicion. I heard more arguments among protesters this evening than I have heard in a week. Morale is ebbing away as people prepare to be smoked out of the park they have fought so hard for.

    There are far fewer people in Taksim and Gezi today. Last night was so horrific that many people aren’t prepared to come back. Those who are there have a fatalistic attitude – they are determined and unbelievably brave, but they are not optimistic. Within the park, the camaraderie still exists, but it is governed by fear, not joy. People pass you a helmet because they are genuinely worried you might be hit in the head with a canister. The commune has become protective rather than victorious.

    I’ve been wanting to talk to a policeman for some time now, but I was always worried about being arrested – in Besiktas last week several people were arrested just for approaching a group of police. I was with a friend as we left the square; we hid our helmets in her bag, put on wide-eyed “we just got here” expressions and approached a very young policeman standing on the outskirts of the police line-up.

    “What on earth is going on?” I asked him. “We just arrived from the coast.. Why are all these people here?”

    “They are extremists. The PKK is here. Communists too. We are here to contain the situation.”

    “No! How awful. What is going to happen?”

    “If they approach us, we will respond. They have Molotov cocktails. You should go.”

    So we went.

    I think that young policeman genuinely believed all that. He has been told he is here to combat Communist and Kurdish terrorists. But I wonder what he will be thinking when he is told to fire canisters straight into crowds of unarmed people, as I am fairly sure will happen tonight.

    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #19 - June 13, 2013, 08:38 AM
    Quote from: zeca on June 12, 2013, 09:06 PM
    http://turkishawakening.com/2013/06/12/interview-with-a-cop-on-the-eve-of-battle/

    Quote
    “What on earth is going on?” I asked him. “We just arrived from the coast.. Why are all these people here?”

    “They are extremists. The PKK is here. Communists too. We are here to contain the situation.”


    Hmm... yes.. yes "Extremists".. this red dressed person



    MUST BE AN  EXTREMIST ..  Pepper spray her .... finmad  stupid extremists  finmad...   Every one without burkha,  without beard  and participating in that Istanbul Park destruction protest must be  terrorists.  Yap break the parks and  build huge concrete jungles.   that is progress.,  well wait for earth quakes..

    Idiots..

    Anyways .. hello zeca., I wonder whether you are in  Istanbul?    The news says
    Quote
    Turkey PM floats referendum to end Istanbul park protest

    NKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday said he would consider holding a referendum on plans to redevelop an Istanbul park that have sparked nationwide protests, in his first major concession in nearly two weeks of anti-government unrest.

    The gesture came as thousands gathered in the city's Taksim Square, next to Gezi Park, for a 13th evening of demonstrations. The mood was subdued and peaceful, in stark contrast to the previous night when protesters fought running battles with riot police.

    “We might put it to a referendum.... In democracies only the will of the people counts,” said Huseyin Celik, a spokesman for Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) after talks between Erdogan and protest leaders.

    “We think that after this gesture of goodwill people will decide to go home.”A campaign to save Gezi Park's trees from being razed to make way for a replica of Ottoman-era military barracks was met with a heavy-handed police response on May 31. The crackdown sparked a countrywide outpouring of anger against Erdogan, seen as increasingly authoritarian...

    yes..yes,,  true    In democracies only the will of the people counts, .   if the majority in a country votes for Islamic sharia rules  we should put them in to action .  That how the  Pakistan became   land of pure by  eliminating every one to make it as 96% Muslims and in that half them look at  their beard height and burkh color every day., They even declared    Ahmadis as non-Muslims.  That is democracy, where   majority controls the social/political/economic rules even  It doesn't matter whether they use  commonsense or not in making the social/political/religious/economic rules to the society.,  The lack of that human sense is indeed a serious problem to humanity in 21st century/,

    I wonder what kind of referendum elections  are going to be held there? is it for total country or total city Istanbul? or is it going  to  be only for people living in and around   Taksim Square in Istanbul??  Off course Erdogan party's   idea of breaking the park  to build CEMENT JUNGLE will win the referendum if it is a country wide referendum  
    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim     
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #20 - June 13, 2013, 10:27 AM
    Quote from: yeezevee
    Anyways .. hello zeca., I wonder whether you are in  Istanbul?


    Hi yeezevee. No, I'm not in Istanbul, just following what's happening from a distance. I used to visit Istanbul a bit, but that's a long time ago. Anyway this video, filmed just before the crackdown, is worth watching. I've no idea where things go from here.

    http://vimeo.com/68207051#
    Quote
    This footage was filmed 5am in the morning to collect all the messages on the streets while showing how the protesters start their day in the park and around. Armored water cannons, tear gas bombs, pepper sprays and police attacks occurred later that day resulting [in] hundreds of injuries.


    From the 'Turkish Awakening' blog:

    http://turkishawakening.com/2013/06/12/update-night-of-12the-june/
    Quote
    Erdogan has announced that a referendum may be held over the future of Gezi Park (no promises), after meeting with 11 “representatives” of the park protests. It is unclear how these people were chosen, or by whom. Erdogan also met privately with a very popular, aging female pop singer called Hulya Avsar. There have been no confirmed sightings of Avsar anywhere near the park or Taksim Square and everyone is wondering what words of wisdom she would have to offer the PM on the situation. A bizarre development.

    The Turkish CNN anchor is in London reporting on the “London riots”, that is to say, the protests over the G8 summit which I couldn’t even find on the BBC News homepage. Apparently, Turks in London should avoid these dangerous protests. A hilarious attempt at hitting back at damning British media coverage of the Turkish protests.



    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #21 - June 13, 2013, 10:42 AM
    Quote from: yeezevee on June 13, 2013, 08:38 AM
    MUST BE AN  EXTREMIST ..  Pepper spray her .... finmad  stupid extremist  finmad...   Every one without burkha,  without beard  and participating in that Istanbul Park destruction protest must be  terrorists ...  


    13

    Philharmonic extremism at Gezi Park:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwj-seRPe30

    Piano terror last night (link to video on Facebook in article):
    http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/13/world/europe/turkey-gezi-park-piano/

    EDIT: Found a YouTube-video of the piano concert:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=L_-w0SHKTZk#

    Zeca, thanks for the links and updates! I am going to watch that Ekümonopolis-docymentary. I've seen it referenced in other places too.

    Cheers,
    Nikolaj
    Danish Never-Moose adopted by the kind people on the CEMB-forum
    Ex-Muslim chat (Unaffliated with CEMB). Safari users: Use "#ex-muslims" as the channel name. CEMB chat thread.
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #22 - June 13, 2013, 12:08 PM
    Quote from: Nikolaj on June 13, 2013, 10:42 AM
    13

    Philharmonic extremism at Gezi Park:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwj-seRPe30

    Piano terror last night (link to video on Facebook in article):
    http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/13/world/europe/turkey-gezi-park-piano/

    EDIT: Found a YouTube-video of the piano concert:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=L_-w0SHKTZk#

    Zeca, thanks for the links and updates! I am going to watch that Ekümonopolis-docymentary. I've seen it referenced in other places too.

    Cheers,
    Nikolaj

       
    Great music .Thanks for the links Nikolaj  here is insan insan   from Fazil Say

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqPSZ8uqBZM

    That is what we expect from foolish Islamic governments.,   pepper spraying women folks and arresting people like Fazil Say for twitter comments in the name of Blasphemy..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj158c_4e0M

    stupid fools with Islamic mind set  don't know "what is diamond and what is stone"




    Do not let silence become your legacy.. Question everything   
    I renounced my faith to become a kafir, 
    the beloved betrayed me and turned in to  a Muslim     
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #23 - June 13, 2013, 12:46 PM
    Fazil Say again:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fneYF1wcwJA
    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #24 - June 13, 2013, 07:57 PM
    Hurry up and jump on this live-feed of the piano concert at Taksim in Istanbul!

    http://www.odatv.com/n.php?n=taksimden-canli-yayin-0706131200

    It's weally pwetty!!! 001_wub

    EDIT: The sound goes missing from time to time, but so far eventually gotten back
    Danish Never-Moose adopted by the kind people on the CEMB-forum
    Ex-Muslim chat (Unaffliated with CEMB). Safari users: Use "#ex-muslims" as the channel name. CEMB chat thread.
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #25 - June 13, 2013, 11:00 PM
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IALDK63fhkw


    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #26 - June 14, 2013, 09:36 AM
    http://turkishawakening.com/2013/06/14/update-morning-of-14th-june
    Quote
    Thunder claps sound like tear gas canisters at this stage, as rain pours down on Taksim Square and flashes of lightening illuminate a few hundred determined protesters still camping out in Gezi Park. For the past 48 hours we have been expecting The End and it has not come. My flatmate woke up in a panic, convinced she could smell tear gas, but it was only workmen re-welding the metal debris from dismantled barricades up the road.

    Erdogan has given several “final warnings”, his patience has apparently finished but he holds talks with protesters on a nightly basis. The Governor of Istanbul promises there will be no intervention while advising everyone to leave the park so that police can “deal with the extremists”. It is all rather unsettling, to say the least, especially as the last time Erdogan was set to hold talks with protestors, police stormed the square and injured hundreds of people.

    The protest pianist, Davide Mortello, has just stopped for a break in Taksim Square as the rain pours onto his beautiful grand piano. He has been playing here for around 12 hours, and there is still a loyal crowd around him. His playing has kept morale high throughout the night and attracted swing protesters, who might otherwise feel (understandably) depressed by the rain and the uncertainty. Mortello is of Italian descent and plays gigs on the hipster scene in Berlin. He travelled to Istanbul on Wednesday in a van, with his piano in the back, just to support a protest movement which he sees as worthy. It sounds like he’s not going anywhere til this situation is resolved.

    The Turkish Transport Ministry has demanded that Twitter create a company in Turkey, claiming that they have “no legal basis” because they accept adverts and do not pay tax. The real reason? Twitter refuses to release the personal details of the Twitter users who are, according to Turkish authorities, “spreading propaganda and inciting riots” by sharing information about the protests. Twitter says it will not release user details because Turkey has no law for the protection of personal information. I still have not found out why the Transport Ministry is getting involved in this.

    A friend of mine in Ankara, where protesters are treated to tear gas every night, recently checked her followers on Twitter and found that the police were following her. She had been aiming to be an open source of information about the protests – now she has changed her name, vetted all her followers and changed her settings to private.


    More good blog posts here:

    What do #occupygezi protesters want? My observations from Gezi Park

    Is there a social-media fuelled protest style? An analysis from #jan25 to #geziparki

    In praise of the "marginal groups"

    Orhan Pamuk - Memories of a public square
    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #27 - June 15, 2013, 10:13 AM
    More sources:

    Translating Taksim: http://translatingtaksim.wordpress.com/

    RT live updates http://rt.com/news/istanbul-park-protests-police-095/
    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #28 - June 15, 2013, 09:49 PM




    According to someone on the urban75 thread
    Quote
    This is kicking off all over the city tonight. Thankfully I'm at home and I live far away from the centre to not be affected, but I've heard from friends who live closer to town that tear gas is being fired in residential streets and metro stations. Some of the metro stations have been closed, roads have been blocked, ferries have been cancelled. Lots of people are making their way towards Taksim from the Asian side of the city.


    Reports that police are now using rubber bullets as well as tear gas.

    Zeynep Tufekci's twitter feed is worth following.

    Earlier in the day...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZGQSpmakbo
    Which side are you on?
  • What's actually happening in Istanbul?
     Reply #29 - June 16, 2013, 09:07 AM
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2Or3siw5fo

    http://turkishawakening.com/2013/06/15/update-night-of-15th-june/
    Quote
    00.15AM: I have just come back from the streets of Cihangir, near Taksim Square, where police are throwing gas canisters and smoke bombs down the main street as well as side streets to prevent people going up to Taksim. In response, locals have formed hasty barricades made of rubbish bins and are chanting for the downfall of the government. Street dogs dart around stealing rubbish from the overturned bins, and the air is heavy with gas and the stench of rubbish. Sirens and canister bangs every few seconds. This is chaos. There are rumours that police have entered the German Hospital on Siraselviler St, off Taksim Square, hunting down protesters. A woman near me on the street suddenly lost it and started screaming at the police up ahead: “Murderers! Murderers!”

    Half an hour after the police raided Gezi Park (at about 9PM) with tear gas and water canons, I talked my way past riot police and into the Marmara Taksim Hotel, right on the square. I took the lift to the top floor bar and looked down on Gezi Park. I could not believe what I saw. A mere half an hour ago, it was full of people – young people, old people, small children – in tents, eating dinner, singing, enjoying themselves. Now: nothing. The bulldozers have already cleared all the tents and no one is left. I hear from friends that most of the protesters fled to the Divan Hotel on the opposite side of the park. They are being pursued by police who used pressurized water to force open the revolving doors and throw tear canisters into the lobby of the hotel. Outside, they targeted doctors and medical students tending to injured people. Children have been separated from their parents, and some have been badly affected by tear gas, as in the photo above.

    Police are storming a luxury hotel in central Istanbul. They are gassing doctors and children. They just gassed thousands of people sitting in a park, and are continuing to gas residential neighbourhoods. This is the Divan hotel: http://www.divan.com.tr/ENG/, which has opened its doors to people since protests began, giving food and supplies and a safe place to escape to. It is no longer a safe place.

    There is history behind this – the Divan hotel belongs to the Koç family, a very powerful and wealthy family hated by Erdogan. Since the beginning of the protests, Erdogan has accused the Koç family not only of supporting but planning the protests, based on the fact that the Divan Hotel donated hundreds of sandwiches to protesters on the first day of protests (we are supposed to believe they had them ready prepared for the event). The Divan has always helped the protesters, and the police no longer have any regard for its status as private property.

    Like Tuesday’s attack, this was unexpected. Erdogan told everyone to clear the park before tomorrow, but he has been saying since Wednesday that people had only 24 hours left. This time, the attack came one hour after his announcement, and after protesters starting taking down barricades and political banners, as they had promised the government.

    Tomorrow there will be a huge AKP support rally in the district of Zeytinburnu. All around Istanbul, enormous posters with a smiling Erdogan have been put up to encourage attendence. One wonders if the government wanted to clear the way for their supporters. More probably, Erdogan flipped when he heard protesters had vowed to continue their protests and ordered a merciless clearing of the park. Yesterday there were reports that he had stormed out of the meeting with protest representatives.

    It would be an absolute disaster if supporters of the AKP clashed with returning protesters tomorrow. The government will have blood on its hands, and they will have unleashed something that could have been stopped with a few sensible words two weeks ago at the beginning of the protests.

    Gezi Park and Taksim Square are empty. What will they look like tomorrow?




    http://turkishawakening.com/2013/06/15/istanbul-responds-to-gezi-raid/
    Quote
    01.45AM: Huge crowds are building up in the areas of Kadikoy, Besiktas, Harbiye, Sisli and Gazi (not Gezi). The photograph above shows hundreds of people being prevented by police vans from marching over the bridge from the Asian side.

    In my area, everyone has been banging pots and pans, honking car horns, shouting and clapping to show support for some time now.

    It is reported that a woman has miscarried in the Divan Hotel. A blog has been set up listing children who are missing in the hotel.

    The water used in the water canons has been mixed with some kind of chemical that is burning people’s skin.

    A friend who was in front of the Divan just before the intervention into the park said that no one could hear the police announcements about the forthcoming raid. Apparently, everyone was asking each other: “What was that, what are they saying?” She is convinced the police made the announcements in such a way that they can claim they warned people, but no one actually heard.

    Residents in affected areas have opened their doors to fleeing protesters.


    http://occupiedtaksim.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/clashes-continue-as-sun-rises.html
    Quote
    08.10 Clashes settled down for now, demonstrators will gather at 16.00 at Taksim Square.

    Which side are you on?
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