8 ms·

Thousands of Istanbul citizens walking to protest government

126 points by robot 13y ago

robot 13y ago
More photos: http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com/ http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com/
flexxaeon 13y ago
I'd just noticed someone created this on my web app http://picsho.com/HYFSbbl1/ http://picsho.com/HYFSbbl1/
robot 13y ago
3.30am, Turkish capital. Hundreds of university students left their dormitories, passing through the working class neighborhood to join other protestors in front of the parliament building. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=r1-SEZKxGqw# https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=...!
enraged_camel 13y ago
I'm Turkish. Let me try to shed some light on what's going on. What started as a small protest to prevent the demolishing of a park to build a mall on it turned into full-blown riots after some stunning displays of brutality by the police. The commentators are saying that the Turks had lots of pent-up anger over the years and this allowed them to let it all out. The result is the largest series of riots Turkey has seen in recent years. At least in my lifetime, and I'm 28. I don't live there right now, but my Facebook feed is full of updates from friends and sometimes it moves faster than I can follow. There's lots of people, especially in Istanbul and the capital city of Ankara, but also in others including Izmir, Bursa, Antalya and my hometown, Adana. And it means fuck-all. People on the Internet - Reddit, especially - are sensationalizing the hell out of it and blowing it out of proportion, saying the government is about to fall. The reality? The government has not even acknowledged what is going on. Prime Minister Erdogan probably received some updates from his staff and then went to bed. He must be up now having his breakfast. He knows his regime is not in any danger, especially since he gutted the military over the past decade. The irony is that those same people who cheered his efforts to eliminate the military's influence in politics (saying it's "undemocratic") are the ones who are protesting on the streets now. I want to ask them, "how does it feel when you destroy your own insurance against fascism, idiots?" But it doesn't really matter. Hindsight is 20/20. I certainly hope I'm wrong. But regardless of what happens, I know one thing: if there's a Hell, Erdogan will burn in it.
- zalew 13y ago
  > a small protest to prevent the demolishing of a park to build a mall isn't it just a tip of the iceberg of what's recently going on in Istanbul? resettlements, demolishions of old architecture to replace with commerce, etc. I remember a local complaining about it when I've been there 2 years ago, since then I've heard more and more about how they are destroying neighborhoods. shame, it's an amazing city.
  - nakkaya 13y ago
    Park protest was just the tipping point. Current government has been slowly transitioning the country into Islamic rule. There were numerous things that preceded this, ban on abortion, ban on alcohol, jailing journalists/MPs, forcing religion on children, restrictions on TV basically all TV stations are owned by the government ( and not a single one mentioned the protests last night btw or the bombing that recently happened imagine no one reporting 9/11), and not to mention every recent protest met the same police brutality.
    - afsina 13y ago
      That is a gross exaggeration. Ban on abortion was there before, is still there. My take, I support ban on abortion except some cases. Ban on alcohol: They ban consumption in public places. it is becoming close to the Many Eurepean counties level. But not there yet. Jailing journalists: Most of them involved with PKK (A terrorist organisation acknowledged by US and EU) directly. However, I agree the ones did not do action should have never been kept. There is a list: http://www.cnnturk.com/2012/guncel/03/07/tutuklu.gazeteciler.listesi/652085.0/ http://www.cnnturk.com/2012/guncel/03/07/tutuklu.gazeteciler... Forcing Religion on children: If you mean mandatory religion and ethics lessons, it was there forever. This is bogus. My take, Governemnet should never deal with Religion. Restrictions on TV: was there almost two decade ago.. RTUK was founded much before this government. Similar organisations exist in US and EU. Recent events.. Well I blame government for being distasteful. Their architectural projects are far from beautiful. Also I dont understand their fetish on Ottoman-ism. There was no point resurrecting that stupid building on that park area. However, I also see protests more like opposition sides play ground. They find every opportunity to make things a show. That project was there for years and now it is time to protest? please. Also, a side note, if you stand on pressurized water like an idiot you fall and bleed. Edited: Some wordings
atasever 13y ago
Media is censoring the events. Only information channel is twitter. Right now , on the bosphorus bridge that connects asia and europe: https://twitter.com/tunaarman1/status/340667624432205825 https://twitter.com/tunaarman1/status/340667624432205825
- zalew 13y ago
  massive. AFAIR pedestrians aren't even allowed on this bridge, correct? other pic https://twitter.com/SerkanBALBAL/status/340711369617833984/photo/1 https://twitter.com/SerkanBALBAL/status/340711369617833984/p...
  - robot 13y ago
    Yes they are not allowed. The people from the biggest district on Asian side are walking to the European side.
- rwmj 13y ago
  The BBC is covering it pretty well. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22739423 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22739423
  - paganel 13y ago
    Unfortunately this is not happening with the NYTimes, only a story link in the "International" section towards the bottom of its front-page. Across the Atlantic the BBC, Le Figaro or der Spiegel have made it their top story.
robot 13y ago
Summary in english https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zdVS0mGwD3I# https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=...!
- atasever 13y ago
  And from BBC : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x10fa2s_bbc-in-az-onceki-yayinindan-01-06-2013-04-00-tsi_news?start=225#.UamRckAwfis http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x10fa2s_bbc-in-az-onceki-ya...
Aduket 13y ago
There is a gallery http://imgur.com/gallery/WJnz6 http://imgur.com/gallery/WJnz6 #direngeziparki please take a look at this to get the cruelty and violence exposed by the police: Help us spread the freedom cry of the people of Turkey !
aytekin 13y ago
More photos http://www.odatv.com/n.php?n=gezi-parki-yikiliyor-haydi-taksime-2805131200 http://www.odatv.com/n.php?n=gezi-parki-yikiliyor-haydi-taks...
- diminish 13y ago
  it s like a scene from Avatar. Turks are revolting to stop the killing of 75 year old trees, police reacts violently and protests turn against the government. Trees are leading the people..
  - afsina 13y ago
    And protesters are destroying stuff around. Fantastic.
    - fsniper 13y ago
      No protestor is doing any harm around. These are Civil disguised cops trying to make reason for their aggression. Been there seen it. By the way I can't believe we still have blind believers in RTE's virtual democracy.
      - afsina 13y ago
        Sure. They burn stuff for warming up. http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/izmir_yangin_yeri-1135843 http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/izmir_yangin_yeri-1135843 Assuming you know Turkish: "...Gediz Üniversitesi'nin Çankaya Yerleşkesi binasının camlarını kıran ardından Şair Eşref Bulvarı üzerindeki Mc Donald binasını da taş yağmuruna tutan eylemciler, Talatpaşa üzerindeki Sevinç Pastanesi'nin önündeki yolu kapattı."
        fsniper 13y ago
        These fires are barricading against cops. Police is trying to kill. Using unbelievable force and still you say having some garbage fires are looting? By the way I say I have seen civil cops looting and protesters preventing them. But sure main stream media is the best news source. Edit: I believe these are also protesters trying to kill wounded cops? https://twitter.com/Kadirkaymakci/status/340791432891748352/photo/1/large https://twitter.com/Kadirkaymakci/status/340791432891748352/...
thejbf 13y ago
More fascinating photos from several contributors: http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com
Aldipower 13y ago
That were all empty teargas cans, https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLn89fZCIAA0Gwd.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLn89fZCIAA0Gwd.jpg doing this, http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLevznnCQAEOR1j.jpg http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLevznnCQAEOR1j.jpg and made in http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLnx94jCIAE8yQ9.jpg http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLnx94jCIAE8yQ9.jpg This man is pronounced dead, but maybe he survived with major injuries. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbRgMqkSvRg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbRgMqkSvRg
esolyt 13y ago
Multiple people are claiming access to Facebook and Twitter is being blocked.
- kwx 13y ago
  Well, they're lying. I'm sitting in istanbul on FB / Twitter / YT without issues.
eknkc 13y ago
The primary ISP provider has been slowing down / blocking port 80 / 443 packets going to facebook and twitter hosts. They are gradually blocking social media right now. 3G works as the cellular providers maintain their own internet structure. However they deployed signal jammers to protest locations. So.. We are basically fucked. Media outlets are still running cooking shows.
- eknkc 13y ago
  Gotta add, before this; people used twitter really well during the protests. They tweeted street names where help is needed. They tweeted doctor / laywer phone numbers. Called Veterinarians for stray animals affected from police gas. Shared ways to deal with gas (like using acid reflux medicine on your face) So, the government must be really afraid now.
- cinquemb 13y ago
  This has been going around on twitter: Turkey dial up internet access +46850009990 or +492317299993 or +4953160941030 User:telecomix Password:telecomix Probably won't help with filtering attempts, but should help somewhat if you go dark.
jstrate 13y ago
My girlfriend is vacationing in Turkey and in Istanbul currently. I spoke with her last night and asked what was going on, she said a small amount of people were protesting trees being removed from a park. She said she believed it was a little more than that but nothing very extreme. It was interesting to hear her view after seeing it and then read the reddit/hn talk of government overthrow, rampant police brutality, and revolutions. I suppose it will be interesting to see what happens. And then uninteresting to see how few of these comments are relevant.
- enraged_camel 13y ago
  Your girlfriend is probably not near the same park where the protests started. People are literally rioting on the streets - there are photos all over Facebook and Twitter documenting this.
  - jstrate 13y ago
    Certainly possible, she said Gezi park which I had heard come up so I just assumed.
- litmus 13y ago
  Both your girlfriend and enraged camel are correct. enraged camel will probably agree that at this stage that talk of government overthrow and revolution is ridiculous--he says as much in his earlier post. Compared to Egypt or Syria the reasons for the protests are indeed laughably quaint by comparison. The lead-up involved the gov's attempts at the demolition of a historical movie theater, building a third bridge across the Bosphorus, restricting alcohol sale laws which were previously laxer than most EU countries, and this whole Taksim park and historical ottoman barracks "reconstruction". As you can see, most of these things are mostly grievances you would see in western democratic countries. The most undemocratic component in the past years that has been the hallmark of previous governments as well--the lengthy jailtime for people being accused of abstract & extreme anti-government activity--has been mostly out of play in this most recent of public shit fits. The main difference this time around, and the government's biggest mistake, has been the continued disproportionate police response...
chris123 13y ago
Follow the Turkish rabbit, my Millennial friends (or are you with Cypher: "Ignorance is bliss."). Knock, knock: http://www.oftwominds.com/blogmay13/politicizing-GenY5-13.html http://www.oftwominds.com/blogmay13/politicizing-GenY5-13.ht...

126 points by robot 13y ago

robot 13y ago

More photos: http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com/ http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com/

flexxaeon 13y ago

I'd just noticed someone created this on my web app http://picsho.com/HYFSbbl1/ http://picsho.com/HYFSbbl1/

robot 13y ago

3.30am, Turkish capital. Hundreds of university students left their dormitories, passing through the working class neighborhood to join other protestors in front of the parliament building. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=r1-SEZKxGqw# https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=...!

enraged_camel 13y ago

I'm Turkish. Let me try to shed some light on what's going on. What started as a small protest to prevent the demolishing of a park to build a mall on it turned into full-blown riots after some stunning displays of brutality by the police. The commentators are saying that the Turks had lots of pent-up anger over the years and this allowed them to let it all out. The result is the largest series of riots Turkey has seen in recent years. At least in my lifetime, and I'm 28. I don't live there right now, but my Facebook feed is full of updates from friends and sometimes it moves faster than I can follow. There's lots of people, especially in Istanbul and the capital city of Ankara, but also in others including Izmir, Bursa, Antalya and my hometown, Adana. And it means fuck-all. People on the Internet - Reddit, especially - are sensationalizing the hell out of it and blowing it out of proportion, saying the government is about to fall. The reality? The government has not even acknowledged what is going on. Prime Minister Erdogan probably received some updates from his staff and then went to bed. He must be up now having his breakfast. He knows his regime is not in any danger, especially since he gutted the military over the past decade. The irony is that those same people who cheered his efforts to eliminate the military's influence in politics (saying it's "undemocratic") are the ones who are protesting on the streets now. I want to ask them, "how does it feel when you destroy your own insurance against fascism, idiots?" But it doesn't really matter. Hindsight is 20/20. I certainly hope I'm wrong. But regardless of what happens, I know one thing: if there's a Hell, Erdogan will burn in it.

zalew 13y ago
> a small protest to prevent the demolishing of a park to build a mall isn't it just a tip of the iceberg of what's recently going on in Istanbul? resettlements, demolishions of old architecture to replace with commerce, etc. I remember a local complaining about it when I've been there 2 years ago, since then I've heard more and more about how they are destroying neighborhoods. shame, it's an amazing city.
- nakkaya 13y ago
  Park protest was just the tipping point. Current government has been slowly transitioning the country into Islamic rule. There were numerous things that preceded this, ban on abortion, ban on alcohol, jailing journalists/MPs, forcing religion on children, restrictions on TV basically all TV stations are owned by the government ( and not a single one mentioned the protests last night btw or the bombing that recently happened imagine no one reporting 9/11), and not to mention every recent protest met the same police brutality.
  - afsina 13y ago
    That is a gross exaggeration. Ban on abortion was there before, is still there. My take, I support ban on abortion except some cases. Ban on alcohol: They ban consumption in public places. it is becoming close to the Many Eurepean counties level. But not there yet. Jailing journalists: Most of them involved with PKK (A terrorist organisation acknowledged by US and EU) directly. However, I agree the ones did not do action should have never been kept. There is a list: http://www.cnnturk.com/2012/guncel/03/07/tutuklu.gazeteciler.listesi/652085.0/ http://www.cnnturk.com/2012/guncel/03/07/tutuklu.gazeteciler... Forcing Religion on children: If you mean mandatory religion and ethics lessons, it was there forever. This is bogus. My take, Governemnet should never deal with Religion. Restrictions on TV: was there almost two decade ago.. RTUK was founded much before this government. Similar organisations exist in US and EU. Recent events.. Well I blame government for being distasteful. Their architectural projects are far from beautiful. Also I dont understand their fetish on Ottoman-ism. There was no point resurrecting that stupid building on that park area. However, I also see protests more like opposition sides play ground. They find every opportunity to make things a show. That project was there for years and now it is time to protest? please. Also, a side note, if you stand on pressurized water like an idiot you fall and bleed. Edited: Some wordings

atasever 13y ago

Media is censoring the events. Only information channel is twitter. Right now , on the bosphorus bridge that connects asia and europe: https://twitter.com/tunaarman1/status/340667624432205825 https://twitter.com/tunaarman1/status/340667624432205825

zalew 13y ago
massive. AFAIR pedestrians aren't even allowed on this bridge, correct? other pic https://twitter.com/SerkanBALBAL/status/340711369617833984/photo/1 https://twitter.com/SerkanBALBAL/status/340711369617833984/p...
- robot 13y ago
  Yes they are not allowed. The people from the biggest district on Asian side are walking to the European side.
rwmj 13y ago
The BBC is covering it pretty well. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22739423 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22739423
- paganel 13y ago
  Unfortunately this is not happening with the NYTimes, only a story link in the "International" section towards the bottom of its front-page. Across the Atlantic the BBC, Le Figaro or der Spiegel have made it their top story.

robot 13y ago

Summary in english https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zdVS0mGwD3I# https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=...!

atasever 13y ago
And from BBC : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x10fa2s_bbc-in-az-onceki-yayinindan-01-06-2013-04-00-tsi_news?start=225#.UamRckAwfis http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x10fa2s_bbc-in-az-onceki-ya...

Aduket 13y ago

There is a gallery http://imgur.com/gallery/WJnz6 http://imgur.com/gallery/WJnz6 #direngeziparki please take a look at this to get the cruelty and violence exposed by the police: Help us spread the freedom cry of the people of Turkey !

aytekin 13y ago

More photos http://www.odatv.com/n.php?n=gezi-parki-yikiliyor-haydi-taksime-2805131200 http://www.odatv.com/n.php?n=gezi-parki-yikiliyor-haydi-taks...

diminish 13y ago
it s like a scene from Avatar. Turks are revolting to stop the killing of 75 year old trees, police reacts violently and protests turn against the government. Trees are leading the people..
- afsina 13y ago
  And protesters are destroying stuff around. Fantastic.
  - fsniper 13y ago
    No protestor is doing any harm around. These are Civil disguised cops trying to make reason for their aggression. Been there seen it. By the way I can't believe we still have blind believers in RTE's virtual democracy.
    - afsina 13y ago
      Sure. They burn stuff for warming up. http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/izmir_yangin_yeri-1135843 http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/izmir_yangin_yeri-1135843 Assuming you know Turkish: "...Gediz Üniversitesi'nin Çankaya Yerleşkesi binasının camlarını kıran ardından Şair Eşref Bulvarı üzerindeki Mc Donald binasını da taş yağmuruna tutan eylemciler, Talatpaşa üzerindeki Sevinç Pastanesi'nin önündeki yolu kapattı."
      - fsniper 13y ago
        These fires are barricading against cops. Police is trying to kill. Using unbelievable force and still you say having some garbage fires are looting? By the way I say I have seen civil cops looting and protesters preventing them. But sure main stream media is the best news source. Edit: I believe these are also protesters trying to kill wounded cops? https://twitter.com/Kadirkaymakci/status/340791432891748352/photo/1/large https://twitter.com/Kadirkaymakci/status/340791432891748352/...

thejbf 13y ago

More fascinating photos from several contributors: http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com http://occupygezipics.tumblr.com

Aldipower 13y ago

That were all empty teargas cans, https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLn89fZCIAA0Gwd.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLn89fZCIAA0Gwd.jpg doing this, http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLevznnCQAEOR1j.jpg http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLevznnCQAEOR1j.jpg and made in http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLnx94jCIAE8yQ9.jpg http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLnx94jCIAE8yQ9.jpg This man is pronounced dead, but maybe he survived with major injuries. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbRgMqkSvRg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbRgMqkSvRg

esolyt 13y ago

Multiple people are claiming access to Facebook and Twitter is being blocked.

kwx 13y ago
Well, they're lying. I'm sitting in istanbul on FB / Twitter / YT without issues.

eknkc 13y ago

The primary ISP provider has been slowing down / blocking port 80 / 443 packets going to facebook and twitter hosts. They are gradually blocking social media right now. 3G works as the cellular providers maintain their own internet structure. However they deployed signal jammers to protest locations. So.. We are basically fucked. Media outlets are still running cooking shows.

eknkc 13y ago
Gotta add, before this; people used twitter really well during the protests. They tweeted street names where help is needed. They tweeted doctor / laywer phone numbers. Called Veterinarians for stray animals affected from police gas. Shared ways to deal with gas (like using acid reflux medicine on your face) So, the government must be really afraid now.
cinquemb 13y ago
This has been going around on twitter: Turkey dial up internet access +46850009990 or +492317299993 or +4953160941030 User:telecomix Password:telecomix Probably won't help with filtering attempts, but should help somewhat if you go dark.

jstrate 13y ago

My girlfriend is vacationing in Turkey and in Istanbul currently. I spoke with her last night and asked what was going on, she said a small amount of people were protesting trees being removed from a park. She said she believed it was a little more than that but nothing very extreme. It was interesting to hear her view after seeing it and then read the reddit/hn talk of government overthrow, rampant police brutality, and revolutions. I suppose it will be interesting to see what happens. And then uninteresting to see how few of these comments are relevant.

enraged_camel 13y ago
Your girlfriend is probably not near the same park where the protests started. People are literally rioting on the streets - there are photos all over Facebook and Twitter documenting this.
- jstrate 13y ago
  Certainly possible, she said Gezi park which I had heard come up so I just assumed.
litmus 13y ago
Both your girlfriend and enraged camel are correct. enraged camel will probably agree that at this stage that talk of government overthrow and revolution is ridiculous--he says as much in his earlier post. Compared to Egypt or Syria the reasons for the protests are indeed laughably quaint by comparison. The lead-up involved the gov's attempts at the demolition of a historical movie theater, building a third bridge across the Bosphorus, restricting alcohol sale laws which were previously laxer than most EU countries, and this whole Taksim park and historical ottoman barracks "reconstruction". As you can see, most of these things are mostly grievances you would see in western democratic countries. The most undemocratic component in the past years that has been the hallmark of previous governments as well--the lengthy jailtime for people being accused of abstract & extreme anti-government activity--has been mostly out of play in this most recent of public shit fits. The main difference this time around, and the government's biggest mistake, has been the continued disproportionate police response...

chris123 13y ago

Follow the Turkish rabbit, my Millennial friends (or are you with Cypher: "Ignorance is bliss."). Knock, knock: http://www.oftwominds.com/blogmay13/politicizing-GenY5-13.html http://www.oftwominds.com/blogmay13/politicizing-GenY5-13.ht...