Izmir by Night - Gezi Park Protests

Every night since end of May 2013 Izmirians have been out on the streets banging pots, blowing whistles, chanting slogans and using their democratic right to protest. It is here that I query whether or not the right to protest and the act of protesting actually really accomplishes anything. This being said and seeing the head of state of many countries fall because of protest I could be very wrong. Usually, in a democratic labelled country the art of protest does little, so, I suppose you could argue that bringing democracy to a country in theory gives you less democratic rights. A democratic country will never let a minority protest win, therefore in this respect the current head of Turkey is right with wanting to quash the protests. Although many, if not all the cities of Turkey joined in from what I can gather it was not the majority of each city. This could be because they are scared to protest, could be because their allegiances are not with the protesters, could be because they are not quite aware of the changes that are taking place in their country. Maybe the reason people didn't join the protests was because they think the protests are just about the park or maybe they were just watching the Turkish Olympics, the show that overshadowed the protests even though in almost all cities their were disturbances. Most of the news channels didn't show much of what was going on and when they did they were just labelled as provacateurs.

So, what now for the protesters. They are out on the streets almost every night and there is a stale-mate of sorts. Who knows what will happen but with the head of the country inflaming them more and creating a wider gap between the protesters and 'us'. This is an unknown. Calm is needed but judging by the picture below, will it be found?

Protesting Izmir at night - Alsancak and Konak.

Turkey - Banging Pots and Hooting Horns!

A slow but growing force of pot banging, hooting horns and protests is spreading around Turkey like wildfire. Over the past few days now there has been anger, emotional outbursts, famous supporters, government denial of any wrongdoing and a failure to apologise. Turkey at times has seemed anarchic and not the usual level headedness I have seen from Turks. But to be silent at this time is probably not the right thing to do. To sit idly by whilst their government slowly chips away at their civil liberties is not really an option.

It is only recently that I heard on the news there was a kissing ban, then a ban on alcohol sales (at certain times) and then plans to rip up a perfectly serene park where excessive force was used to try to remove those at the sit in. If there is anything that the government of Turkey needs to learn from all of this is perhaps that heavy handed tactics do not work and do indeed fan the flames of fire in the hearts of the people that were recently said to not really matter. What most citizens of most countries around the world do not realise is that once their governments start forgetting about a large portion of their own population, this begins a downward spiral where they can just walk over the people.

So, where is Turkey at and how long will this last, the protests, the pot banging, the hooting of horns. All of these are unknowns but with the Başbakan out of the country in Tunisia it seems like he has no interest in the protesters whatsoever. The biber gaz (pepper spray) that was liberally used to spray in the faces of unwitting peaceful protesters in Istanbul and other places has increased the tensions so much so that the anarchy and the destruction that ensued was inevitable. The government concentrated on the fact that this movement is a minority and that this movement is damaging property. This movement may not end up being a minority and could grow to be a majority. He is right about the damaging of property but this is out of frustration, the government is in power for all of the people but it seems like it is only representing some of the population, which can turn people into a different type of people who wouldn't necessarily damage council and state property but do to make a statement.

As of 9.00 p.m. the pots, pans and horns were all sounding off, tomorrow will be the same, the day after I do not know, but at the time of writing there is a movement and they need to be listened to because a country is defined by it's population and the population is 100% of the population. All people, all religions, all walks of life. They need their voice.

Gezi Park protests still continue as do many protests in many other locations around Turkey.