Dear Shaded Viewers,
I received this comment in reaction to the earlier post:
Dear Diane, Im truly sad about this report. Because it is not true by all! In Turkey now there are thousands of people protesting for the green area called gezi parki in taksim, because the government wants to change the infrastructure there. It's true, that police show some violence against the demonstrators, which has to stop. Many of the demonstrators are destroying the whole area and provocators are leading burgleries, which is not correct as well. The OPPOSITIONAL PARTY IN TURKEY is leading these protests and spreading DRAMATICLY overstated conditions over the internet. – THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY IS NOT TURNING INTO A MUSLIM DICTATORIAL STATE. This is a statement which needs to be proved, when told. Just can't turn a DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC INTO DICTATORIAL GOVERNMENT on the internet that easy. -BUT NO MOSQUES are planned to be built. Prime minister said today in the news that it will be a cultural center (with an opera..) and many more trees than there are and and 98.000m2 pedestrian zone. Here is the OFFICIAL projectvideo from OFFICIAL website of AK party. http://www.akparti.org.tr/site/video/8291/taksim-meydani-projesi – ALCOHOL IS NOT strictly ruled, just as strict as in EUROPE IT IS. Its forbidden to be sold in markets after 10 pm. ( things work a little differently in turkey about open hours) NOT IN CLUBS OR INDOOR EVENTS. -Still everyone has the right to express his/her VIEW. http://www.akparti.org.tr/english/haberler/no-one-has-right-to-increase-tension/45399 -LATEST ELECTIONS IN TURKEY WERE IN 2011, where PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN WAS CHOOSEN BY MORE THAN 40% OF POPULATION TO LEAD FOR THE 4th !!!! . Here you can see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_general_election,_2011 I AM upset, because of this uniliteral report, and misinforming, abusing sympathy of you and your followers for ideologes in politics in turkey. I just ask for Research before supporting. Im not supporting any political party. Im against any violence, and compulsion. But this is not an arab spring happening in Turkey. Turkey is still a DEMOCRATIC Republic. I WISH PEACE FOR EVERYONE, M
Dear Shaded Viewers,
An x-student of mine at Paris Fashion Institute sent in her personal report from Istanbul:
On one hand the protests here feel like a spring party, on the other hand they are quite serious. People here are upset because the govt is turning into a Muslim, dictatorial state. The govt is shutting down media sites, which is never a good sign. They are building mosques left and right when now there are 3 mosques for every school. They are taking over properties to create construction projects to keep unemployment at bay. They are imposing strict Muslim based rules about drinking, etc. People are upset.
B, A, and J got off the boat ride a stop early to avoid the crowd and stepped right into the nexus of the protest. They say 10,000 people were on land and 6,000 were on boats all surrounding the newest palace in town, dates back to the 1600s. They could hardly make their way through. Tourist busses passed through and people were covering their faces from the pepper spray.
Last night, we walked to a rooftop restaurant and had to go through a section much like the Fanieul Hall area. It was mobbed, they were all drinking and they were all fired up. The police have backed off and street people are just running with it. There was one point when I ran with my heart in my throat to get onto a side street, out of drunken, fired up harms way.
This is a fascinating place and it occurs to me that what goes on in Istanbul is a reflection of what is going on in the world and this has been true for 2500 years. From the Byzantines to the Ottomans to sultan enslavement days to Ataturk democratization in the 1920s to the current dissatisfaction with a push for conservative return to a non secular state and everything in between… this place is a microcosm of it all and has layers and layers of this history. It is not beautiful. It is marginal in its infrastructure. Its artwork is beautiful but it is worn, cracked and destroyed. Its setting is unbelievable (look at a map) but inaccessible for the common people. It is a trading post that has kept up with the times while at the same time embraced all that a trading site brings with it – a widely diverse population, goods from all over, a welcoming spirit, a competitive market and ideas of many ways to live. Fascinating.
"The prime minister has been in power since 2002, and has indicated he will try to change the constitution to allow him to stand for another term.
Some in Turkey have complained that his government is becoming increasingly authoritarian.
His ruling AK Party has its roots in political Islam, but he says he is committed to Turkey's state secularism.
The US has expressed concern over Turkey's handling of the protests and Amnesty International condemned the police's tactics, saying: "The use of violence by police on this scale appears designed to deny the right to peaceful protest altogether and to discourage others from taking part." BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22744728
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