Protests in Turkey Part of Growing Cycle of Discontent (Source: Protests in Turkey entered their fifth day today, with demonstrators heading into the streets in cities across the country. The protests, which were initially aimed at protesting the demolition of Istanbul’s Gezi park, have transformed, because of police aggression, to include more general grievances with the Turkish government. Mashallah News provides a good recap of the demonstrations’ development, thus far: “In Istanbul, just 1.5% of the land is devoted to public green space, of which nine acres are located in Gezi park. In a much anticipated speech on June 1, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded to the growing protest movement. “Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan… speaking about the police attacks on protesters, is defiant — he says of those who are demonstrating about the re- development of Gezi Park, ‘There are games being played….Nobody has the right to protest against the law and democracy.’ government.
Dünya Gezi'yi sosyal medyada tartıştı Cemal İve / Radikal.com.tr - Dünya, ünlü sosyal ağ Twitter 'ın gücü ve yayılma etkisine son eylemlerde bir kez daha şahit oldu. Protestoların yoğunlaştığı saatlerde dünya çapında yüzbinlerce tweet atılırken, Gezi Parkı ile ilgili hashtag'ler de dünyadaki trend konu başlıklarının zirvesine yerleşti. Taksim'deki Gezi Parkı protestoları 5. gününe girerken, halk Twitter ve Facebook gibi sosyal paylaşım sitelerinden haberleşme yoluna gitti. Polis müdahalesinin en sert olduğu 31 Mayıs gününde, Twitter'da 500 binin üzerinde kişi olaylarla ilgili paylaşımda bulundu. Sosyal medyanın gücünün en çok hissedildiği şu günlerde, Taksim'deki protestolara destek vermek isteyen birçok kişi Twitter ve Facebook gibi sosyal paylaşım platformlarından örgütlenip, taleplerini ve tepkilerini bu sosyal ağlar aracılığı ile dile getirme yoluna gidiyor. Twitter'ın kurucusu da destek oldu Hashtag'ler direnişin yayılmasını hızlandırdı
#RESISTAKSIM As the former head gardener of Gezi Park for 20 years, Cemal Özay, 68, knows every inch by heart and remembers every tree he planted. “What is it with this government’s love for concrete?” he says. “When I started, this park was a huge garden, green and full of flowers I had grown myself.” Last year this small area of Istanbul witnessed very different scenes. “They don’t like trees, because trees don’t generate a profit,” Özay concludes. The government’s uncompromising stance and a heavy-handed police crackdown on protesters led to the protests quickly spreading all overTurkey, turning an initial environmental movement into a revolt against the increased authoritarianism of the country’s leader. Two weeks after the start of the revolt police forces violently evicted all protesters from Gezi Park. Protestors clash with Turkish riot policemen on the way to Taksim Square in Istanbul on June 5, 2013. “Gezi broke down the wall of fear. Yapici agrees.
gezipark: fr - 2013-06-04 02:00:04 +0200 TUR | FR | ENG | GRE | ITA | GER | ESP News from / Nachrichten / Νέα από / informations / Notizie (da) 4.6.2013 (Istanbul Time): Avrupa Birliği: Aşırı ve Orantısız Kuvvet Kullanımını Kınıyoruz Avrupa Birliği, Taksim Gezi Parkı’nda yaşananlara sert tepki gösterdi. AB Komisyonu’ndan yapılan yazılı açıklamada, “Her türlü aşırı ve orantısız kuvvet kullanımını kınıyoruz.” ifadeleri kullanıldı. İstanbul’da polis ve göstericiler arasında devam eden çatışmaların ‘endişeyla’ takip edildiği aktarılan açıklamada, toplantı ve ifade hürriyetinin ehemmiyetine atıf yapıldı. Bütün tasarrufların Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi içtihadlarına uygun gerçekleştirilmesi talep edildi. Avrupa Parlamentosu’nun (AP) Türkiye Raportörü Hollanda’lı Hristiyan Demokrat Ria Oomen-Ruijten de yazılı bir açıklama yaparak, gelişmelerden kaygılı olduğunu belirtti. P’nin daha önce polisin aşırı kuvvet kullanımıyla ilgili endişelerini kayıtlara geçirdiğine işaret eden Oomen-Ruijten, protesto dahil toplantı hürriyetine saygı gösterilemesini istedi.
#RESISTAKSIM: Dear friends all around the world, Something brave... How to Occupy the Noosphere – TedX IAN’S NOTE: This talk represents my own personal synthesis from artists, activists, Occupiers, rabble rousers, revolutionaries and evolutionaries that I’ve had the privilege to meet during my short time on this planet. A sincere bow as well to my friends, supporters, and teachers – which I am forever indebted. I had a lot of fun with this talk. Thanks to the TedX organizers and volunteers, fellow speakers, and all the lovely people of Victoria who made this an amazing event. Please SHARE this video if you’re inspired. WATCH THIS TALK WITH SUBTITLES: Greek, Spanish, French, and Portuguese TedX synopsis: An ardent filmmaker and media activist, Ian MacKenzie is dedicated to capturing and sharing glimpses of emerging human paradigms. Full Transcript: The first time I saw this mask was in the 2006 film “V for Vendetta.” When they searched the catacombs of parliament, they found Guy Fawkes guarding 36 barrels of explosives. My grandmother calls these masks “kind of creepy.” This is love. Fire.
Justice Delayed by Patrick Wrigley As the disappeared from the Kurdish-Turkish conflict are unearthed from unmarked graves, will the government help deliver justice? Image courtesy Philip Downey When I met him last March, Davut Akyon was clawing at the fresh brown earth in Bağözü, a village in Southeast Turkey. He worked deliberately, but quickly, turning over large chunks of limestone, moving from one mound to another, the speed of his labor failing to mask the futility of his task. Occasionally, he would throw a rock down a well, following its trajectory with vacant eyes. Davut was looking for his brother’s bones. Bağözü, known as Triwa in Kurdish, was forcefully evacuated by the Turkish military in 1995. Davut does not know why they took [his brother]. Davut, who lives in Dargeçit, looks older than his forty-one years. Nedim was twelve when he was taken in the middle of the night from his family home. That was the last time Davut saw Nedim. At that time, Dargeçit was at the center of a society that was disintegrating.
Occupy Europe: How a generation went from indifferent to indignant The most significant current youth movement in Europe started with a tweet on Justin Bieber, the boyish Canadian crooner. On May 15, following a rally against education cuts at Madrid's main square, a cluster of 40 students stayed on, talking into the night. Spain, like Greece and Italy, faces huge public deficits. The government has been cutting outlays for basic services like schools, health care, and social welfare. While college attendance in Spain is a success story, youth unemployment has risen to a horrific 44 percent. So on Puerta del Sol square, the kids were hashing it out. The tweet distilled perfectly frustrations among youth that Europe, Spain, their politicians, the banks, the system, their lives – all are in trouble and need to change. Yet some Rubicon was crossed on May 15. Today, their idea has spread across southern Europe to Rome and Athens and the far corners of Spanish cyberspace, where the group has 70,000 participants. Yes, they want jobs. It's pretty utopian.
Turkey's top military leaders quit - Europe General Isik Kosaner, the head of the Turkish armed forces, has quit along with the heads of the ground, naval and air forces. The country's state-run Anatolia news agency said on Friday that the military chiefs wanted to retire because of tensions with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the recently re-elected prime minister. Anatolia reported Kosaner as resigning "as he saw it as necessary". In a written statement released after the news of the generals' retirement, Erdogan said that the armed forces would continue to do their duty in a spirit of unity. Erdogan also named General Necdet Ozel, head of the gendarmerie paramilitary force, as both the commander of the ground forces and acting chief of the armed forces. Abdullah Gul, the president, approved the appointment. Ozel was the only one among the top commanders not to ask for retirement. "It seems that, in the past, when the military expressed dissatisfaction with the government, the government would leave. Campaign Military vs government