On July 19th a petition was signed by academics to call upon Turkish Government to to obey international law in the treatment of protesters and those providing medical treatment to them
'Doctors and nurses treating patients affected by tear gas and other police brutality, as well as the Istanbul Medical Chamber General Secretary, have been apprehended by police a clear violation of customary international and human rights law . More than 4000 academics around the world have already signed a petition to protest the police brutality. We call upon the Turkish government to obey international law in the treatment of protesters and those providing medical treatment to them, and to start a good-faith dialogue with the protest movement.'
Unfortunately the police brutality still continues all around Turkey
Turkey Must End Violent response to Protests Science Mag
7/26/2013
7/25/2013
Artists and Scholars Send a Letter to Turkish PM to Support Protesters in Turkey
'Artists and scholars, including celebrities known for their activism, such as Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Ben Kingsley and movie director David Lynch, have condemned the Turkish authorities’ heavy-handed crackdown on the Gezi Park protests in Turkey in a full-page letter published July 24 in the British broadsheet The Times and addressed to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. '
Penn, Sarandon and intellectuals condemn Gezi crackdown in letter addressed to Turkish PM
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| Letter to the Prime Minister of Turkey |
7/23/2013
A wonderful cook book...
This book was written by Greg and Lucy Malouf after their journey to Turkey in 2007. In addition to taking the reader to Turkish ingredients and cuisine through their innovative recipes, this book also has wonderful photos which will take you to the real Turkey. If you ask me it makes a good cook book but an even better coffee table book!
The overseas interest has waned but what is happening in Turkey and did the protests really come to an end?
Turkish protests haven't ended since the first day they started. They have changed forms and the protestors came up with many creative ways to continue their protests. I will share a photo journal about the days that passed but in the mean time you may read the article -published at Guardian- from here.
6/25/2013
Susan Sarandon Supports Turkish Resistance
Susan Sarandon offers her support to Amnesty’s Campaign on Turkey
In her letter she says ' Since the clashes in Taksim Square began on May 28, Turkish police have used shocking levels of force to disperse peaceful protestors. Despite harsh international criticism, Turkish authorities have failed to step in to curb police abuse and help their own citizens
Thousands of activists have been injured and unjustly imprisoned.
Over the weekend, police were seen firing tear gas directly at makeshift hospitals and detaining doctors and other medical personnel who were treating injured protestors. Recently, just as scores of lawyers were preparing to make a statement about the protests, they were arrested. People have also been detained simply for posting protest information on social media.
This must stop now.'
6/24/2013
Police responsible for Law Enforcement or Enforcement of PM's wishes?
23rd day of the resistance in Turkey.Unfortunately Turkish police spreads their intolerance and violence event towards silent protestors. 78 including the first 'duran adam'(the man that stands, no talk) have been taken into police custody and many silent protestors were beaten by police. Despite all these, the protestors continue their replies with humour.
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| First police: 'Don't move police!' Second: ' Move police!', Third ' Whatever! It is police' |
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| Turkish police beats up a man who stands up carrying a tray and coffee :( |
The Economist 'Turkey's upheavel'
Turkish Prime minister is using his 'new army' police force to create fear in his country. The police violence against all protestors increased in the last two weeks.
In this article an Oxford academic states ' Scenes of police brutality have besmirched the image of a country long hailed as a role model for the Muslim world. “Erdogan looks increasingly like Hosni Mubarak before his fall,” comments Kerem Oktem, an Oxford academic who studies Turkey.'
Economist Article 'Turkey’s upheaval Descent into confrontation'
In this article an Oxford academic states ' Scenes of police brutality have besmirched the image of a country long hailed as a role model for the Muslim world. “Erdogan looks increasingly like Hosni Mubarak before his fall,” comments Kerem Oktem, an Oxford academic who studies Turkey.'
Economist Article 'Turkey’s upheaval Descent into confrontation'
Brasilian and Turkish protestors continue supporting each other, Meanwhile Erdogan spreads his fury over Brasilians too!
The protestors from two countries - Brasil & Turkey' understand and support eachothers' similiar causes which are demands like 'No corruption', 'Transperency of the government' and ' Freedom of Speech'.
In the meantime Turkish Prime Minister extended his uncontainable fury to 'Brasilian protestors'. According to yesterday's article at Bloomberg.com, Erdogan likens Turkish and Brasilian protestors and says “Right now, the same game is being played in Brazil'.
In the meantime Turkish Prime Minister extended his uncontainable fury to 'Brasilian protestors'. According to yesterday's article at Bloomberg.com, Erdogan likens Turkish and Brasilian protestors and says “Right now, the same game is being played in Brazil'.
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| Photo published by BBC Turkce 'A Brasilian Protestor kisses a Turkish Flag' |
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| Poster designed by Brasilians in support of Turkish Resistance |
Books which transport you to Turkey
40 Rules of Love by Elif Shafak
This book has been a wonderful read. The story will take you back and forth from the poet / philosopher Rumi's times to today.
It is published by Penguin group and you can read the summary & an interview with the author from Penguin web page.
Birds Without Wings by Louis de Berniers
Birds Without Wings will tell you the story of the last years of Ottoman Empire - the first truly multinational - state government of the world from 1900 to 1923. It is a great story written with much care to depict how today's Turkey was formed and how different cultures formed Ottoman Empire and the base of today's Turkish Republic.
A quote from a 2005 interview with Louis de Bernier;
'The point is, under the Ottoman regime tolerance was compulsory. They had no toleration of intolerance because everyone was sat on more or less fairly and equally heavily; there wasn’t much trouble between the ethnicities and the religions.'
Another quote from LdB from the same interview is very relevant to the events that happen since May 31, 2013 in Turkey. He says 'I know sometimes you have mortal duty to resist oppression, that’s it.'
This book has been a wonderful read. The story will take you back and forth from the poet / philosopher Rumi's times to today.
It is published by Penguin group and you can read the summary & an interview with the author from Penguin web page.
Birds Without Wings by Louis de Berniers
Birds Without Wings will tell you the story of the last years of Ottoman Empire - the first truly multinational - state government of the world from 1900 to 1923. It is a great story written with much care to depict how today's Turkey was formed and how different cultures formed Ottoman Empire and the base of today's Turkish Republic.
A quote from a 2005 interview with Louis de Bernier;
'The point is, under the Ottoman regime tolerance was compulsory. They had no toleration of intolerance because everyone was sat on more or less fairly and equally heavily; there wasn’t much trouble between the ethnicities and the religions.'
Another quote from LdB from the same interview is very relevant to the events that happen since May 31, 2013 in Turkey. He says 'I know sometimes you have mortal duty to resist oppression, that’s it.'
6/22/2013
Taiwanese animation series on Turkish protests 2013
Series 1 - Gezi Parki Protests start
Series 2 - 'Chapuling' becomes a verb and protests spread
Series 3 - Police violence escalates against protesters
6/21/2013
Occupy Taksim - Stockholm flashmob
Occupy Taksim - Stockholm flashmob
I like it towards the last quarter of the clip. It shows that this mob has a reason to make music.
And btw have a look at all the berries they are selling in Stockholm at the moment. ;)
Based on music made during protests
The original song with a wonderful summary of past 23 days in Turkey
The lyrics say ' This is just the beginning, the struggle continues'
And in the metro...
6/20/2013
And the protestors support protestors! Brasil & Turkey
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| Brasil: 'We are all Taksim' & Turkey ' We are all Sao Paulo' |
'Duran adam' inspires silent protest all around Turkey
"On Sunday I felt a big blank. What should we do next?" said 32-year-old Ilker Gumus, an industrial engineer, referring to last weekend's clashes around Gezi Park and Taksim Square that were among the fiercest so far.
"I was a bit pessimistic at first. I thought, 'This is over.' But then the 'Standing Man' came along in Taksim and I said 'Yes, we will go on!'."
"I was a bit pessimistic at first. I thought, 'This is over.' But then the 'Standing Man' came along in Taksim and I said 'Yes, we will go on!'."
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| Silent Protest - Call for finding a spot to resist |
6/18/2013
Der Spiegel article on Turkey
Erdogan's speech may yet prove to be fateful for the leader. The atmosphere is already charged, and now Erdogan is throwing more fuel on the fire. Rather than reach out to the protesters, he disparages them. But with each attack he is only driving more people out onto the street. Early on, the protest proved effective at bringing together citizens from various social backgrounds.
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| Tayyip at a staged speech Article in Der Spiegel |
The man that stands - no talk
People don't even sing or dance to protest anymore. They just stare at the flag and Ataturk memorial. The first person who started this protest (stay still and stare at flag) is taken into police custody unfortunately. His crime is staying still and staring at flag and not saying anything
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| Duran Adam / the man that stands |
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| Cover of weekly comic magazine |
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| No talk where the first protestor died
Click for Reuters article “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything” ― Albert Einstein |
6/17/2013
Saturday night in Istanbul
My heart is totally with all the anti government protestors' in Turkey. Despite the fact that they have been violently attacked by police many times they have been keeping their protests to only peaceful means. Please read on for an insiders details.
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i cried quietly on the boat over to taksim tonight. having spent a few hours earlier today in gezi park, strolling around and chatting with the folks gathered there, i was struggling to understand the inhumanity of the police attack on such a peaceful demonstration.
by the time we had docked in kabataş, my sadness and confusion had turned to anger, and i was eager to climb the hill and stand sho...ulder to shoulder with friends and strangers against this brutality. an avowed pacifist, i knew i would throw no stones, i would go on no offensive. my only intention was to demonstrate my human right to stand in solidarity, to chant slogans, to clap my hands in the air, to peacefully protest.
we gathered on sıraselviler blvd in cihangir. quite a few yards ahead was one of the police's water cannons, but we reasoned that we were in a safe place, along the route the ambulances take in and out of taksim square. (indeed, we stopped our chanting every few minutes to cheer on the brave EMTs as they shuttled the injured out of harm's way and to the hospitals. sadly, there were so many ambulances - going back and forth, empty and then full - that i easily lost count.) there were rumors of clashes in harbiye and that the police were coming up from both sides of istiklal. but things felt relatively calm where we stood, like we had found the one safe public space in the entire area in which we could peacefully protest.
but we were wrong. before long, and without provocation, the tear gas came, raining down on us. the crowd responded as usual: calling out 'slowly' and 'don't run' and walking calmly but relatively quickly to try to get clear of the police attack without causing a stampede ahead. but the police didn't want us to react calmly. before we knew it, the water cannons were on our backs and noise bombs flashing to our sides. but remarkably - incomprehensibly - no matter how fast we ran, we couldn't seem to get clear of them. they were literally chasing us - a group of peaceful protesters trying our very best to show (by running away) that we meant no harm. but they meant harm. they intended not only to scare us but also to injure us, whether by hitting us with pressurized water or tear gas canisters, or by causing the exact stampede we were trying so hard to avoid.
i cried quietly on the boat home from taksim tonight. something in me felt broken. call me naive if you'd like, but i'm not sure i believed something like this existed before tonight, before i saw it for myself. violence in the face of non-violence. the absence of a public space to express our collective yet peaceful discontent. the disrespect one human can show another when they refuse to recognize that they are, in essence, equals.
i am struggling tonight to hold onto the beauty and signs of collective strength i have witnessed during these past weeks - the solidarities formed in gezi park, on the streets of istanbul, and all across social media platforms. i still want to believe in the basic goodness of humanity. but something in me broke tonight. and so i know this night will be a dark one in my personal history; and i worry that it will be a dark night in turkey's history as well.
non-turkish and non-turkish-speaking friends: if you haven't already done so, please take the time to educate yourselves about the situation here. take the time to contact your local consulates and elected representatives to demand that somebody be held accountable for this unwarranted violence. demand that there be public spaces in which people can come together to peacefully protest. demand that human rights - nay, human decency - be respected. we need your help.
by the time we had docked in kabataş, my sadness and confusion had turned to anger, and i was eager to climb the hill and stand sho...ulder to shoulder with friends and strangers against this brutality. an avowed pacifist, i knew i would throw no stones, i would go on no offensive. my only intention was to demonstrate my human right to stand in solidarity, to chant slogans, to clap my hands in the air, to peacefully protest.
we gathered on sıraselviler blvd in cihangir. quite a few yards ahead was one of the police's water cannons, but we reasoned that we were in a safe place, along the route the ambulances take in and out of taksim square. (indeed, we stopped our chanting every few minutes to cheer on the brave EMTs as they shuttled the injured out of harm's way and to the hospitals. sadly, there were so many ambulances - going back and forth, empty and then full - that i easily lost count.) there were rumors of clashes in harbiye and that the police were coming up from both sides of istiklal. but things felt relatively calm where we stood, like we had found the one safe public space in the entire area in which we could peacefully protest.
but we were wrong. before long, and without provocation, the tear gas came, raining down on us. the crowd responded as usual: calling out 'slowly' and 'don't run' and walking calmly but relatively quickly to try to get clear of the police attack without causing a stampede ahead. but the police didn't want us to react calmly. before we knew it, the water cannons were on our backs and noise bombs flashing to our sides. but remarkably - incomprehensibly - no matter how fast we ran, we couldn't seem to get clear of them. they were literally chasing us - a group of peaceful protesters trying our very best to show (by running away) that we meant no harm. but they meant harm. they intended not only to scare us but also to injure us, whether by hitting us with pressurized water or tear gas canisters, or by causing the exact stampede we were trying so hard to avoid.
i cried quietly on the boat home from taksim tonight. something in me felt broken. call me naive if you'd like, but i'm not sure i believed something like this existed before tonight, before i saw it for myself. violence in the face of non-violence. the absence of a public space to express our collective yet peaceful discontent. the disrespect one human can show another when they refuse to recognize that they are, in essence, equals.
i am struggling tonight to hold onto the beauty and signs of collective strength i have witnessed during these past weeks - the solidarities formed in gezi park, on the streets of istanbul, and all across social media platforms. i still want to believe in the basic goodness of humanity. but something in me broke tonight. and so i know this night will be a dark one in my personal history; and i worry that it will be a dark night in turkey's history as well.
non-turkish and non-turkish-speaking friends: if you haven't already done so, please take the time to educate yourselves about the situation here. take the time to contact your local consulates and elected representatives to demand that somebody be held accountable for this unwarranted violence. demand that there be public spaces in which people can come together to peacefully protest. demand that human rights - nay, human decency - be respected. we need your help.
Doctors taken in to police custody
After taking lawyers into police custody now the doctors who volunteer for the protestors' are taken into police custody! Police arrests doctors for helping injured people.
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| Doctor taken into police custody during protest in Turkey. |
6/16/2013
Turkish Protests 2013 - Bloody Saturday
LIVE FROM ISTANBUL: Today (15/6/2013 9pm at Turkey), following Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's extremely sectarian, separatist, and fictious speech in Ankara, around 9 PM, the Turkish police began to attack thousands of people who were at the Gezi Park and Taksim square, having dinner. There are kids under 4-5 years old, mothers, and old people among those who were under gas and pressurised water attack. According to reports, police doesn't allow journalists to report or to take pictures from Gezi Park. They are also attacking with pressurised water business such as famous Divan Hotel that opened its doors to protestors running away from brutality. People are saying there are thousands of wounded inside of the hotel. People formed a human chain in front of the hotel to prevent police to attack. Another report says that people cannot leave the hotel because police is arresting whoever leaves. There are also unconfirmed reports that police shut down the metro and boats between Asia and Europe to stop people coming and joining the rest. Another report says that there is a jammer in the area to prevent TV stations' broadcast. There are hundreds of wounded. There are a lot of missing kids, or kids who are separated from their families. Protestors are fighting with police in Sıraselviler, Cihangir, Harbiye, and most likely around Dolmabahçe and Maçka. People call it a total brutality, a real savagery that is going on tonight. What we are seeing an ugly war where only one side have weapons.
We just hope this will be the last.
We just hope this will be the last.
6/15/2013
Illustrations depicting Turkish Protests 2013
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| The action figures |
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| Stencil Twitter gassmask |
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| Gezi protest Tayyip holding on to the throne |
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| Penguin protestor. Inspired by Banksy & the penguin character teases with Turkish media which prefers to show penguins instead of the protests in their country |
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| One many against his country |
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| Ataturk |
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| Stencil Sufi with gasmask |
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Demonstrators sing, read poems and throw leaves at them!
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| The phases of advanced democracy solid phase, liquid phase and gas phase respectively |
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| The girl with the red dress became a cult and symbol already |
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| It says: You are very sweet |
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| PM Tayyip Erdogan blocks the ears and shouts 'you are all terrorists, you are all loothers' |
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| Evil Tayyip Erdogan |
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| Erdogan as the water cannon |
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| Don't panic & be organised |
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| One man again |
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