One week ago today, some Turks set up camp at Gezi Park to peacefully protest its demolition for yet another mall. That next morning, Turkish police woke them up with tear gas and water cannons and forced them out, then rounded up their belongings to burn. Little did they know what they were starting.
One week later, the country of Turkey is still erupting. Cities all over Turkey have joined in the fight. Scenes of water cannons and tear gas, as well as police beatings and other brutality can be seen via Youtube in over a dozen Turkish cities. In the Mediterranean city of Antalya, the municipality did not allow the police to hook up their hoses to their hydrants, leaving the police without their water cannons. In the Prime Minister's hometown of Rize, supporters of Erd clashed with the protesters. As of today, three protesters and one policeman (who fell off a bridge chasing protesters) are dead, their deaths all occurring outside of Istanbul.
Meanwhile, Istanbul has been comparatively quiet, but that isn't to say that it has not been busy. Protesters are still taking to the street in just as big of numbers. It's just their resistance, the police, has backed down. Police are no longer stepping in. Gezi Park and surrounding Taksim has become a big festival. Musical groups perform. Yoga classes take place under the saved trees. A library out of cinder blocks has started in Gezi Park, with book donations pouring in. A massive fundraising effort to raise money for a full page ad in the NYT was started. They reached their goal easily, and money continues to pour in. Trade unions have joined the protest, calling strikes for their workers. They have embraced the name chapul (after Erd called them this meaning looters) and made it into a popular youtube video for the movement (if you do watch it, the penguin clip in the middle comes from CNN Turk when they broadcast penguins instead of the protests over the first weekend).
One week later, the country of Turkey is still erupting. Cities all over Turkey have joined in the fight. Scenes of water cannons and tear gas, as well as police beatings and other brutality can be seen via Youtube in over a dozen Turkish cities. In the Mediterranean city of Antalya, the municipality did not allow the police to hook up their hoses to their hydrants, leaving the police without their water cannons. In the Prime Minister's hometown of Rize, supporters of Erd clashed with the protesters. As of today, three protesters and one policeman (who fell off a bridge chasing protesters) are dead, their deaths all occurring outside of Istanbul.
Meanwhile, Istanbul has been comparatively quiet, but that isn't to say that it has not been busy. Protesters are still taking to the street in just as big of numbers. It's just their resistance, the police, has backed down. Police are no longer stepping in. Gezi Park and surrounding Taksim has become a big festival. Musical groups perform. Yoga classes take place under the saved trees. A library out of cinder blocks has started in Gezi Park, with book donations pouring in. A massive fundraising effort to raise money for a full page ad in the NYT was started. They reached their goal easily, and money continues to pour in. Trade unions have joined the protest, calling strikes for their workers. They have embraced the name chapul (after Erd called them this meaning looters) and made it into a popular youtube video for the movement (if you do watch it, the penguin clip in the middle comes from CNN Turk when they broadcast penguins instead of the protests over the first weekend).
This is not to say that Erd has backed down. A few days ago, police rounded up a couple dozen protesters for tweeting "misinformation." Plain-clothed cops are rumored to have infiltrated the protester grounds, trying to create havoc and destruction. One group of cops were supposedly filmed destroying an ATM. Erd is expected back today, although no one is sure when or where. We are all holding our breath. The peace has come from the police backing down. Erd, though, is not one to back down. Of course, worry about civil war is on everyone's mind. Erd stated earlier when the protests first broke out "If this is about holding meetings, if this is a social movement, where they gather 20, I will get up and gather 200,000 people. Where they gather 100,000, I will bring together one million from my party." Erd still has plenty of supporters, particularly in the more conservative countryside. We all fear the end this man might go to avoid compromise. The clash in Rize between supporters and protesters could be just the start.
As time goes by here, I get more and more paranoid and worried about what I am writing. All I am trying to do is get my story out there. I want people to see my experience and my truth. I am not trying to incite any kind of action, except for a passing on of knowledge. As an American, this has always been a right to me. I am seeing how it feels when that liberty is threatened. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about how I should have worded this that way or should not have included this. I constantly reread my work to make sure it would not be taken to mean anything that could get me into trouble. It's frightening and stifling being in this environment. I understand why the Turks are "chapulling." I hope I can help get the story out there.
