sunday arrived
i hear (and see on FB) that Taksim is filling up with people again, some friends are posting from there as well - earlier today it was semi empty. protesters/volunteers were cleaning the area up in the morning, it was quite a mess after the clashes. while Istanbul is more peaceful now, police is cracking down people in Ankara and Izmir atm - and the world's TV feeds have not reached there it, it seems :( but the web is full of images and videos from around there, of police shooting (real bullets) and beating up unarmed civilians. (active tumblr feed)
(more people heading to Taksim from Kadiköy now by ferry, 7pm, doesnt look 100% safe though!)
Erdogan just said on TV, "'social media is a plague against society".
i will do something i dont usually do and use images that are spreading over the internet, ie. images that are not mine.
cleaning up the park (image not by me)
last night me and doctor deemed it safe to go over there as the police had retreated to Besiktas and focused on attacking people there. plus i felt like the news were traveling pretty fast of the armored trucks and police buses moving. i hear it was very tough in Besiktas, and the fumes of gas traveled all the way up the hill to Taksim, where some people were handing out cheap masks to ease breathing. i am glad i took my swimming goggles with me (normally reserved for cutting onion)! the park was full of people and we did enjoy the atmosphere overall, i would describe it as a little bit celebratory.
center of taksim - looking very occupied.
Besiktas from the sea (image not taken by me)
but before we got to Taksim, we started the trip from our own Kadiköy of course. the port was full of people and it seemed like an open air festival. people were chanting "we are soldiers of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk!". the ferries got all full of people going to Europe and plenty of cheering occurred, along with the ferry driver honking the foghorn (i hope they dont get fired for doing that). i wish i caught that on video. so we hopped on the Karaköy ferry - i did not want to go anywhere near Besiktas. on the Bosphorus ferries passing each other evoked more loud cheering from the people.
Kadiköy port. Euope is somewhere in the background.
Istiklal street was pretty trashed. pools of water mixed with blood were a sad sight. it was busy there like any saturday night, but the ratio to tourists vs locals was slightly different. also the chanting and cheering and turkish flag waving was suggesting it was not just any night...
graffiti and slogans were everywhere along the 1,4km main street. here, "mikyasal Tayyip / chemical Tayyip" referring to the prime minister and his police minions trigger happy with tear gas, pepper spray and other unknown gasses."katil polis" means "killer police".
Mado cafes especially have taken a beating, they are owned by Erdogan's relative i think (dont remember exactly) and they did not give water or anything else to the protesters, unlike other establishments (from small shops to prestigious hotels like Hyatt, Divan). hotels also opened their doors to voluntary medics that treated wounded people in their premises.
ATMs. one writing (elsewhere) was saying "we drank our ayran, now we are coming to fuck you Erdogan" - referring to how a couple weeks back the PM declared that the national drink of turkey is ayran (yogurt based drink) - until now it has been raki (alcohol).
turkish street business. selling water and beer on istiklal.
at Taksim square.
it should be noted that the cars and vans that were vandalized were those of:
the police
the municipality
the TV/media (they were not broadcasting anything).
i also saw a "normal" (private) car in the middle that was untouched. the destruction was pointedly focused on targets that people felt were responsible or unfair, such as all of turkish media staying silent over the events while 90 protests were taking place around the country and hundreds of people were injured due to police brutality. the tv channels were showing animal documentaries and soap shows like any other day. one tiny channel called Halk was showing live feed from Taksim since Friday though, and walking in Kadiköy last night i saw all the bars and their big screen tv's turned to Halk instead of the usual 24/7 stream of football or backround videos.
especially "amusing" (or sad, to be exact) was how CNN Turkey was just like the other turkish channels, refusing to show anything about the events, while CNN global has been reporting.
CNN's (image not by me)
Taksim square last night at 1:30am, watermelon seller. we met in Taksim with Senni, Sofia, Hanna, Oytun and others and stopped over for a beer in one bar before heading to the square and park. Oytun had been among the active protestors on friday, and described people "getting some gas", then going to the side streets to find a bar and get a beer, and once they felt better again, then going back to get gassed again.
i too saw this old fella last night, drawing Atatürks profile on a wall (but this image is not take by me)
walking through the park and beyond was tough because of the gas fumes but we made it. i had to lead doctor from the arm as his eyes were burning and i was wearing our only goggles. and while pondering how to get home to the other side of the city, we saw a Bostanci dolmus which slowed down to pick us up. it was full but people made space for us and although Bostanci route doesn't pass Kadiköy the driver agreed to make a detour. so we got home safe :)
overall i have found this to be a great showcase of turkish solidarity, people's support and help towards each other when they come together to resist what seems wrong. the authoritarian ruling party is being unjust towards the sizable secular population.
(image not taken by me)
(more people heading to Taksim from Kadiköy now by ferry, 7pm, doesnt look 100% safe though!)
Erdogan just said on TV, "'social media is a plague against society".
i will do something i dont usually do and use images that are spreading over the internet, ie. images that are not mine.
cleaning up the park (image not by me)
last night me and doctor deemed it safe to go over there as the police had retreated to Besiktas and focused on attacking people there. plus i felt like the news were traveling pretty fast of the armored trucks and police buses moving. i hear it was very tough in Besiktas, and the fumes of gas traveled all the way up the hill to Taksim, where some people were handing out cheap masks to ease breathing. i am glad i took my swimming goggles with me (normally reserved for cutting onion)! the park was full of people and we did enjoy the atmosphere overall, i would describe it as a little bit celebratory.
center of taksim - looking very occupied.
Besiktas from the sea (image not taken by me)
but before we got to Taksim, we started the trip from our own Kadiköy of course. the port was full of people and it seemed like an open air festival. people were chanting "we are soldiers of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk!". the ferries got all full of people going to Europe and plenty of cheering occurred, along with the ferry driver honking the foghorn (i hope they dont get fired for doing that). i wish i caught that on video. so we hopped on the Karaköy ferry - i did not want to go anywhere near Besiktas. on the Bosphorus ferries passing each other evoked more loud cheering from the people.
Kadiköy port. Euope is somewhere in the background.
Istiklal street was pretty trashed. pools of water mixed with blood were a sad sight. it was busy there like any saturday night, but the ratio to tourists vs locals was slightly different. also the chanting and cheering and turkish flag waving was suggesting it was not just any night...
graffiti and slogans were everywhere along the 1,4km main street. here, "mikyasal Tayyip / chemical Tayyip" referring to the prime minister and his police minions trigger happy with tear gas, pepper spray and other unknown gasses."katil polis" means "killer police".
Mado cafes especially have taken a beating, they are owned by Erdogan's relative i think (dont remember exactly) and they did not give water or anything else to the protesters, unlike other establishments (from small shops to prestigious hotels like Hyatt, Divan). hotels also opened their doors to voluntary medics that treated wounded people in their premises.
ATMs. one writing (elsewhere) was saying "we drank our ayran, now we are coming to fuck you Erdogan" - referring to how a couple weeks back the PM declared that the national drink of turkey is ayran (yogurt based drink) - until now it has been raki (alcohol).
turkish street business. selling water and beer on istiklal.
at Taksim square.
it should be noted that the cars and vans that were vandalized were those of:
the police
the municipality
the TV/media (they were not broadcasting anything).
i also saw a "normal" (private) car in the middle that was untouched. the destruction was pointedly focused on targets that people felt were responsible or unfair, such as all of turkish media staying silent over the events while 90 protests were taking place around the country and hundreds of people were injured due to police brutality. the tv channels were showing animal documentaries and soap shows like any other day. one tiny channel called Halk was showing live feed from Taksim since Friday though, and walking in Kadiköy last night i saw all the bars and their big screen tv's turned to Halk instead of the usual 24/7 stream of football or backround videos.
especially "amusing" (or sad, to be exact) was how CNN Turkey was just like the other turkish channels, refusing to show anything about the events, while CNN global has been reporting.
CNN's (image not by me)
Taksim square last night at 1:30am, watermelon seller. we met in Taksim with Senni, Sofia, Hanna, Oytun and others and stopped over for a beer in one bar before heading to the square and park. Oytun had been among the active protestors on friday, and described people "getting some gas", then going to the side streets to find a bar and get a beer, and once they felt better again, then going back to get gassed again.
i too saw this old fella last night, drawing Atatürks profile on a wall (but this image is not take by me)
walking through the park and beyond was tough because of the gas fumes but we made it. i had to lead doctor from the arm as his eyes were burning and i was wearing our only goggles. and while pondering how to get home to the other side of the city, we saw a Bostanci dolmus which slowed down to pick us up. it was full but people made space for us and although Bostanci route doesn't pass Kadiköy the driver agreed to make a detour. so we got home safe :)
overall i have found this to be a great showcase of turkish solidarity, people's support and help towards each other when they come together to resist what seems wrong. the authoritarian ruling party is being unjust towards the sizable secular population.
(image not taken by me)
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