By DEFNE SUMAN
To my friends who live outside of Turkey,
I am writing to let you know what is going on in Istanbul for the last five days. I personally have to write this because at the time of my writing most of the media sources are shut down by the government and the word of mouth and the internet are the only ways left for us to explain ourselves and call for help and support.
Last week of May 2013 a group of people most of whom did not belong to any specific organization or ideology got together in Istanbul’s Gezi Park. Among them there were many of my friends and yoga students. Their reason was simple: To prevent and protest the upcoming demolishing of the park for the sake of building yet another shopping mall at very center of the city.
There are numerous shopping malls in Istanbul, at least one in every neighborhood! The tearing down of the trees was supposed to begin early Thursday morning. People went to the park with their blankets, books and children. They put their tents down and spent the night under the trees. Early in the morning when the bulldozers started to pull the hundred-year-old trees out of the ground, they stood up against them to stop the operation.
They did nothing other than standing in front of the machines.
No newspaper, no television channel was there to report the protest.
It was a complete media black out.
But the police arrived with water cannon vehicles and pepper spray. They chased the crowds out of the park.
In the evening of May 31st the number of protesters multiplied. So did the number of police forces around the park.
Meanwhile local government of Istanbul shut down all the ways leading up to Taksim square where the Gezi Park is located. The metro was shut down, ferries were cancelled, roads were blocked.
Yet more and more people made their way up to the center of the city by walking.
They came from all around Istanbul. They came from all different backgrounds, different ideologies, different religions. They all gathered to prevent the demolition of something bigger than the park:
The right to live as honorable citizens of this country.
They gathered and continued sitting in the park. The riot police set fire to the demonstrators’ tents and attacked them with pressurized water, pepper and tear gas during a night raid. Two young people were run over by the vehicles and were killed. Another young woman, a friend of mine, was hit in the head by one of the incoming tear gas canisters. The police were shooting them straight into the crowd. After a three hour operation she is still in Intensive Care Unit and in very critical condition. As I write this we don’t know if she is going to make it. This blog is dedicated to her.
Top Comments
Defne, I'm so sorry for you, your friends & thank you for sharing your story..I watched this unfold online, what I saw was the relentless courage & bravery of the Turkish people which defies one word description....my eyes filled with tears as I saw the heinous acts endured by the people from the police, they are supposed to protect the public.... I'm in awe of the selfless assistance offered by the residents & businesses you mentioned, such humanity.I was looking for hope in such an unfathomable situation to comprehend as I sat a world away & found it....the heartfelt words & protests of solidarity from across globe, particularly from so called "enemies" the Greeks...I take comfort that from something so horrid a friendship of understanding that we are human beings after all & not fodder for governments,corporations & media to manipulate into fear & loathing of each other in order to manufacture their inhumane agendas......please accept my Greek born respect to you all & my promise to help raise awareness of your plight.....stay strong.
For more pictures of the demonstration and deeper analysis of why Turkeys citizens are concerned about the direction Edrogan is taking the country in
http://www.clarionproject.o...