Is Taksim the Turkish Tahrir?
I thought not, until I came to Istanbul.
Turkey is not Egypt. Taksim is not Tahrir. That was my conviction when I arrived in Istanbul on June 1, but when I entered Taksim Square, I was more than a little surprised. I did not expect so many people. I immediately felt a Tahrir vibe. The atmosphere was friendly, relaxed. Deep into the night, people began to collect the rubbish spontaneously.
The first person I approached answered without hesitation when I asked him what this was all about: “This is the same as the Arab Spring. We want the government, and certainly, the prime minister to listen to the people. But even better, it’s time for him to go. You see how he controls the media? They pretend nothing is happening here.”
A TV broadcasting van lay upside down, covered with graffiti. A girl shouted, “We are with thousands here, being beaten and attacked with tear gas, and on TV they talk about penguins and dolphins instead.”
The protesters in Turkey are angry. Angry about the peaceful protesters at Gezi Park being attacked by the police with pepper spray, tear gas and water canons. Angry because of a law passed the preceding week that forbids the purchase of alcohol in shops after 10 pm. Angry about a new bridge in Istanbul being named after an Ottoman sultan responsible for the slaughter of 30,000 Alevis, who comprise roughly 15% of Turkey’s population today. They are now also angry about the brutal way in which the police reacted to the Taksim and Gezi protesters. Several people told Al-Monitor that plainclothes police officers with iron bars had been seen destroying property. They were recognizable by their blue hats. An older man lamented, “Democratic states don’t have tactics like this.”
