I almost feel part of it. Although I have stayed away from the protests that started four days ago, I see the bleary eyes of the Turkish youth who protested all night. I join thousands, maybe millions, of the Istanbul residents at 9pm as we take pots, pans, spoons and clank them together outside our windows, signalling we are all together in this resistance. I hear the protesters as they near the water, their voices swept up the Bosporus towards me. I watch as boatloads of protesters head down the Bosporus to join the rest. I hear the helicopter constantly overhead, which I see on the news is circling the protesters in what they believe to be an intimidation attempt by the government.
Before I get into any more, I think it is important to understand the history of the Turkish Republic. Although it may not seem so now, it was actually a very progressive government when it was established. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire was dismantled and occupied by the Allies. Young Mustafa Kemal, a commander of the Ottoman Empire Army, organized what was left of his units and successfully expelled the Allies from the new country of Turkey. Kemal, who later earned himself the nickname of Ataturk, father of the Turks, became the first President. As the leader, he established a constitution using many Western countries as models, modernized the country, secularized the government, granted full political rights to women (before several Western European nations did), made primary education free and compulsory, and lightened the burden of taxation for the poor. Considering this was all done in the 1920s and 1930s, Turkey was not just ahead of its time in the Middle East, but also the rest of the world.
When I first got here, I was a little put-off by the almost god-like status Ataturk received. Statues and busts of him are everywhere. Every classroom and business has to have at least one photo of him. Once a group of teachers started making bets about how many pictures or statues of Ataturk there were in our school alone. Guesses started at the upper 100s and went as high as 500. Ataturk seemed to be everywhere and everyone seemed to love this guy. He seemed invincible. At least I thought.
Then, many top military officials got arrested for supposedly plotting a coup. Other military officials resigned in protest. Prime Minister Tayyip Erd shrugged his shoulders and found his own guys to replace them. Turks got worried. Here in Turkey, the people had gotten used to the system of Kemalism. The military (where Ataturk came from) was the check on the government to make sure things stayed in balance. When the government got out of hand, the military always stepped in and restored order. Of course, the rest of the Western world saw the decrease in power for the military as a good thing. I do not disagree with this. Unfortunately, no check seemed to be left on this conservative government.
Then journalists started getting jailed. Lots of them. Again, Turks got worried. Like the previous situation, though, nothing actually happened.
Then, it seemed like on almost a weekly basis, news came of another bothering story. A famous pianist was jailed for tweeting "disrespectful" remarks about the call to prayer and heaven (after a short call to prayer, the pianist joked the imam must either have a mistress or some raki waiting, the other tweet was very similar in style). A Turkish Armenian writer was sentenced to jail for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Then, there were rumors that cafes on the street (in Taksim where most of the Istanbul nightlife occurs) would be shut down. Then it happened. There were rumors that the sale of alcohol would be limited. Then it happened (these may seem like small changes, but if you keep in mind the conservative v secular battle going on, you can understand the intensified fears). The track record of these rumors actually coming true scared me because each following stories seemed worse. If this continued, up next the rule banning female students from wearing head scarves would be overturned (a political move, since Ataturk first created this ban to allow women to be equal members of society). Then the abortion ban. Finally, the scariest rumor yet, Erd would change the constitution. His last term as Prime Minister is ending. To get around this, he will change the constitution so the parliamentary system becomes a presidential one, allowing him to rule as President until 2023.
During this time, Ataturk started to become a symbol to those wanting to resist the current government. Slowly, Erd took away the laws established under their founder. Slowly, the public celebrations for Ataturk became less grand under this regime. Therefore, the people in opposition to Erd tried to make Ataturk into this god. This is what I was seeing, without understanding the full picture. Ataturk wasn't a god to them, he was a great leader who had become a political statement.
In less than two years, I had seen enough to understand the fear in my friends and colleagues eyes. My Turkish neighbors just needed an excuse to get together and realize the strength in their numbers.
Last Friday morning, Turkish police cleared out a peaceful sit-in, a group trying to protect the last green space of the Taksim area in Istanbul. The police brought out tear gas, water cannons, and burned the tents and protesters' belongings. The first I heard of this was that Friday evening, when a friend headed to that area told me public transportation to that area had been stopped (the government was trying to isolate the problem by stopping all public transportation to the area.) We talked about how inconvenient this was, not realizing what this was.
The next morning, I awoke to a new world. The city seemed to be erupting. At 5am, protesters got around the lack of public transportation by marching across the giant Asia-Europe bridge to get to the resistance movement's center of Taksim. This bridge is usually not a pedestrian walk, but thousands of people at 5am can change that. In fact, this happened all over the city. Although Erd shut down all public transportation, people got there on their own two feet. Or piled on a rented boat on the Bosporus. Thousands met up in Taksim. Then as their numbers continued to grow, they moved and added locations on the Asian side and closer to me, Besiktas. I stayed at home, but observed what I could out my window and through my computer screen. The Turkish news had stayed completely quiet on news coverage (another sign of the lack of freedom of press here), but facebook was abuzz with the latest.
Monday came. Over social media those in support of the movement had been instructed to wear black to show our support. Students came to school in black, Turkish flags flying, pictures of Ataturk pinned to them. The kids were bleary eyed, excited, and tired. We started our Monday as we always do, with a flag ceremony, an assembly for announcements and the national anthem. The headmaster started with a speech. He told the students that these are emotional times. In these emotional times, it is easy to act on these emotions. He warned that the they must remember to act thoughtfully, rather than emotionally. Remember to think. Without ever mentioning what was going on the outside world, he wished them luck in whatever they thoughtfully put their mind to.
So what is next? I honestly have no prediction as to what will happen. A major reason for this uncertainty is the uncertainty of the protesters. Although they are demanding Erd to resign, they don't have a plan as to what would happen after this. And to even get to this stage, why are they asking him to resign? He was the democratically elected leader. Has he done anything unconstitutional to warrant this demand? I would like to say yes, but I do not know the Turkish Constitution so am in no place to say anything. If he is in no Constitutional wrong, it seems that there is a fundamental problem with the Constitution, for this is not a Democratic country. People must watch what they say or fear imprisonment. They are not free to peacefully demonstrate. This weekend, Erd stated "There is now a menace which is called Twitter...The best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society." Sounds like Erd has finally found a voice he cannot silence. The question is, what will the voice say next?
Before I get into any more, I think it is important to understand the history of the Turkish Republic. Although it may not seem so now, it was actually a very progressive government when it was established. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire was dismantled and occupied by the Allies. Young Mustafa Kemal, a commander of the Ottoman Empire Army, organized what was left of his units and successfully expelled the Allies from the new country of Turkey. Kemal, who later earned himself the nickname of Ataturk, father of the Turks, became the first President. As the leader, he established a constitution using many Western countries as models, modernized the country, secularized the government, granted full political rights to women (before several Western European nations did), made primary education free and compulsory, and lightened the burden of taxation for the poor. Considering this was all done in the 1920s and 1930s, Turkey was not just ahead of its time in the Middle East, but also the rest of the world.
When I first got here, I was a little put-off by the almost god-like status Ataturk received. Statues and busts of him are everywhere. Every classroom and business has to have at least one photo of him. Once a group of teachers started making bets about how many pictures or statues of Ataturk there were in our school alone. Guesses started at the upper 100s and went as high as 500. Ataturk seemed to be everywhere and everyone seemed to love this guy. He seemed invincible. At least I thought.
Then, many top military officials got arrested for supposedly plotting a coup. Other military officials resigned in protest. Prime Minister Tayyip Erd shrugged his shoulders and found his own guys to replace them. Turks got worried. Here in Turkey, the people had gotten used to the system of Kemalism. The military (where Ataturk came from) was the check on the government to make sure things stayed in balance. When the government got out of hand, the military always stepped in and restored order. Of course, the rest of the Western world saw the decrease in power for the military as a good thing. I do not disagree with this. Unfortunately, no check seemed to be left on this conservative government.
Then journalists started getting jailed. Lots of them. Again, Turks got worried. Like the previous situation, though, nothing actually happened.
Then, it seemed like on almost a weekly basis, news came of another bothering story. A famous pianist was jailed for tweeting "disrespectful" remarks about the call to prayer and heaven (after a short call to prayer, the pianist joked the imam must either have a mistress or some raki waiting, the other tweet was very similar in style). A Turkish Armenian writer was sentenced to jail for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Then, there were rumors that cafes on the street (in Taksim where most of the Istanbul nightlife occurs) would be shut down. Then it happened. There were rumors that the sale of alcohol would be limited. Then it happened (these may seem like small changes, but if you keep in mind the conservative v secular battle going on, you can understand the intensified fears). The track record of these rumors actually coming true scared me because each following stories seemed worse. If this continued, up next the rule banning female students from wearing head scarves would be overturned (a political move, since Ataturk first created this ban to allow women to be equal members of society). Then the abortion ban. Finally, the scariest rumor yet, Erd would change the constitution. His last term as Prime Minister is ending. To get around this, he will change the constitution so the parliamentary system becomes a presidential one, allowing him to rule as President until 2023.
During this time, Ataturk started to become a symbol to those wanting to resist the current government. Slowly, Erd took away the laws established under their founder. Slowly, the public celebrations for Ataturk became less grand under this regime. Therefore, the people in opposition to Erd tried to make Ataturk into this god. This is what I was seeing, without understanding the full picture. Ataturk wasn't a god to them, he was a great leader who had become a political statement.
In less than two years, I had seen enough to understand the fear in my friends and colleagues eyes. My Turkish neighbors just needed an excuse to get together and realize the strength in their numbers.
Last Friday morning, Turkish police cleared out a peaceful sit-in, a group trying to protect the last green space of the Taksim area in Istanbul. The police brought out tear gas, water cannons, and burned the tents and protesters' belongings. The first I heard of this was that Friday evening, when a friend headed to that area told me public transportation to that area had been stopped (the government was trying to isolate the problem by stopping all public transportation to the area.) We talked about how inconvenient this was, not realizing what this was.
The next morning, I awoke to a new world. The city seemed to be erupting. At 5am, protesters got around the lack of public transportation by marching across the giant Asia-Europe bridge to get to the resistance movement's center of Taksim. This bridge is usually not a pedestrian walk, but thousands of people at 5am can change that. In fact, this happened all over the city. Although Erd shut down all public transportation, people got there on their own two feet. Or piled on a rented boat on the Bosporus. Thousands met up in Taksim. Then as their numbers continued to grow, they moved and added locations on the Asian side and closer to me, Besiktas. I stayed at home, but observed what I could out my window and through my computer screen. The Turkish news had stayed completely quiet on news coverage (another sign of the lack of freedom of press here), but facebook was abuzz with the latest.
Monday came. Over social media those in support of the movement had been instructed to wear black to show our support. Students came to school in black, Turkish flags flying, pictures of Ataturk pinned to them. The kids were bleary eyed, excited, and tired. We started our Monday as we always do, with a flag ceremony, an assembly for announcements and the national anthem. The headmaster started with a speech. He told the students that these are emotional times. In these emotional times, it is easy to act on these emotions. He warned that the they must remember to act thoughtfully, rather than emotionally. Remember to think. Without ever mentioning what was going on the outside world, he wished them luck in whatever they thoughtfully put their mind to.
So what is next? I honestly have no prediction as to what will happen. A major reason for this uncertainty is the uncertainty of the protesters. Although they are demanding Erd to resign, they don't have a plan as to what would happen after this. And to even get to this stage, why are they asking him to resign? He was the democratically elected leader. Has he done anything unconstitutional to warrant this demand? I would like to say yes, but I do not know the Turkish Constitution so am in no place to say anything. If he is in no Constitutional wrong, it seems that there is a fundamental problem with the Constitution, for this is not a Democratic country. People must watch what they say or fear imprisonment. They are not free to peacefully demonstrate. This weekend, Erd stated "There is now a menace which is called Twitter...The best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society." Sounds like Erd has finally found a voice he cannot silence. The question is, what will the voice say next?
