One year since Gezi Park protests began, Turkish youth remain determined

GlobalPost

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Tourists bargain over shiny souvenirs. Local youth dressed in the latest fashions chat in cafes. The smell of roasting chestnuts fills the air. This is Istanbul’s Taksim Square where, day and night, it is a challenge to navigate through the bustling crowd of shoppers and frolickers.

While the exterior appears calm, Taksim Square has been tense beneath the surface in the one year since the start of the Gezi Park protests, when Turkish police used tear gas and water cannons in response to a gathering of environmental activists. Since then, a fierce chain of events has exacerbated the country’s unrest as demonstrators continue to fight against police brutality, lack of personal freedoms and government corruption.

“We are worried about our future,” a philosophy student who goes only by the name of Emine said. “If no one joins the protests, if no one resists, if everyone stops talking, the government can do more and more and press down on us even harder.”

Sitting by her side, fellow student Baris Okumuclar added, “Our ruler is a despot. He does not understand what young people need.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won reelection in March, just days after the death of 14-year-old Berkin Elvan, who had lingered in a coma since last June after a tear gas canister that was fired into his head by police. The death of the boy, who was on his way to buy bread, sparked renewed protests in over 30 towns. In a campaign speech leading up to the March 30 election, Erdogan said the boy had links to "terrorist organizations."

Then when a mine explosion in Soma on May 14 killed 301 people, crowds flooded the streets to protest poor safety regulations. Just two days later police began using tear gas, plastic pellets and water cannons on protesters who were angered by the government’s response to the disaster. One of Erdogan's senior adivsers, Yusuf Yerkel, was also seen kicking a protester when the prime minister visited Soma following the tragedy. The aide has reportedly been given sick leave "after being diagnosed with soft tissue trauma in his right leg – the one he used to lay in to the demonstrator."

By Thursday, May 22, demonstrations had grown more violent. Police, continuing to fight the crowd, shot and killed 30-year-old Ugur Kurt.

Prime Minister Erdogan on Friday said he was “amazed” by the manner in which the police had handled the events, praising their work.

“We won’t remain silent against the blood mongers who use [the mine disaster] as an excuse to break, ravage, attack police and commit murder,” he told members of his ruling party. “Do you expect police to stand idly by and watch? I am amazed at their patience.”

Sitting in a nearby café, a group of university students, including Emine and Baris, talked about the events of the last year both inside and outside Taksim Square — the protests, lack of job opportunities for graduates, recent corruption allegations against the government and bans of both Twitter and YouTube that have been condemned internationally as a violation of free speech.

They said they were angered by encroachments on the secular nature of the Turkish system by Erdogan's government. They complained of restrictions on alcohol sales and public displays of affection as well as several development projects that appear to push an Islamic agenda.

“We are a secular nation, and this government is threatening our right to secularism,” said Emine as she shifted awkwardly in her seat.

The initial protests, the group explained, began in Turkey on May 28, 2013 after government plans were announced to turn Gezi Park, a popular green area in the center of town — and one of the last — into a shopping center.

According to eyewitness accounts, a small but significant number of environmental protesters attempted to stop bulldozers from removing trees when the construction began suddenly on May 28.

Police responded with force and Turkish citizens, young and old, came out en masse in support of the demonstrators. Emine, Baris whose name means Peace and his brother whose name means freedom were among the crowd.

“It was like everybody was sleeping, but when Gezi happened the Turkish people woke up,” said Emine. “It wasn’t just about the trees. After Gezi Park everyone became political. Everyone starting criticizing the problems in Turkey. Their minds have now become open. Everyone is talking about their freedoms, their rights. For me these protests were like an awakening.”

By June 5, the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey estimated around 640,000 people had taken part in protests in support of Gezi that had spread to 78 of Turkey’s 81 provinces. In Istanbul, accounts vary but international media reported protest numbers as high as 100,000.

The scene resembled somewhat of a communal atmosphere. Tents and barricades were erected. People slept outside in sleeping bags guarding the area day and night. Others distributed home cooked meals, cigarettes, blankets and books. Protesters took control of the park and the square until June 15.

When police moved in to retake the area, the attack was sudden and brutal. They doused the crowd with tear gas and water cannons and sprayed rubber bullets into the fume filled air. Among the fleeing crowds red eyes and noses streamed as many screamed from the pain of chemicals and rubber bullets. Eleven died in protests that had by this time spread throughout the nation and a further 8,000 were injured.

Protest organizer and speaker for the Taksim Solidarity movement Cem Tuzun was present from the outset.

“We were peaceful, but they came to attack us and burned our tents,” he said. “We came to defend our constitutional laws and democracy, but in the end we were forced to turn to defending our own lives.”

Tuzun described being attacked by teargas sprayed directly into his face by an officer as he attempted to drag an unconscious man to safety through a cloud of chemical smoke.

“I couldn’t see anything. Even breathing was so difficult and there were two of us trying to carry this man out. While I was in this position, a policeman sprayed the tear gas from this distance,” Tuzun said indicating just a few inches from his eyes. “My eyes literally turned around in my head with pressure and pain. It was a brutal attack. Fourteen people lost their sight in this way. And we were just trying to save trees and here the life of an unconscious man.”

Tuzun said the protesters were not just youth or the poor, it was a mix of all people, all religions, all political affiliations, all classes, from the well educated to the unemployed. The protests over Gezi Park became a symbol of something much bigger.

“The ruling party controls the media, public opportunities, the mosques, the police and even the courts,” Tuzun said. “If they control even the law, what can we do?”
Still Emine, Baris and Tuzun all say they will not stop supporting the protests.

Emine was present at one of the recent protests that erupted in the square on March 1 — related to the death of the 14-year-old boy, Berkin Elvan—and suffered injuries. She now walks on crutches.

“When I heard that he had died, I went straight to the hospital,” she said. “Outside the hospital a lot of people gathered. Many were crying – his mother, his grandmother and I cried too because he was so young. The police came to fire tear gas at us – even at the front of the hospital. We were all so angry! Already this boy is dead and again they attack us.”

A fellow protester caught Emine’s injury on video. The footage first shows her physically clashing with a police officer. As he hits her with his baton, she punches and kicks back. She is then dragged off camera by several policemen as a police vehicle drives slowly toward the same position. Moments later, as the camera pans around, Emine is carried from the scene, seemingly in agony.

“I don’t know who caught me from behind but I escaped from their grip and began to run. That is when the police car hit me,” Emine said. “At first he hit me but I wasn’t injured. I turned around and he kept driving forward. He knew what he was doing. He was watching me. My leg got caught under the wheel. I screamed and he kept driving. My leg broke in three places.”

As May 1, 2014 approached, the situation seemed only to worsen as new corruption allegations were leaked in the form of taped conversations between Erdogan and his son discussing the embezzlement of billions of state funds and senior Turkish military officers discussing the organization of a fake attack on their own territory as a means to justify direct military operations against Syria.

The government denied all allegations calling the recordings a forgery, but the banning of social media outlets have since only deepened suspicions.

“These bans prove how much the government has to hide,” said Baris.

“They are afraid of free speech because they are corrupt and stealing from the people,” added Emine.

By the end of Labor Day, Erdogan had once more “succeeded in asserting his iron grip and prevented May Day celebrations from taking place in Istanbul’s Taksim Square.” In all, the Economist reported, “dozens of people, including nine journalists, were wounded and around 160 were detained.” Two more — one bystander — were killed last week.

Still, the students remain adamant that revolution would not be necessary in Turkey. Unlike so many neighboring countries, they explained, protesters here are not calling for the government to fall but rather for change within the existing system.

“The way to change is through protests, promoting new ideas, and exercising democratic rights,” said Emine. “It’s not through terrorism and vandalism. We need to work together using the influence and abilities that we have. Some of us protest. Others write, and politicians use their influence in parliament.”

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