Category Archives: News

Hürriyet Daily News: Riot police enter Taksim’s Gezi Park

Riot police entered Gezi Park in Taksim Square at around 2 p.m. today, despite the Istanbul governor’s earlier remarks saying there would be no such operation. Live footage showed protesters chanting against the police officers, demanding that they leave the park. The police fired dozens of tear gas capsules before marching toward the park, which has been at the center [...] → Read the full article…

Hürriyet Daily News: Many injured as police enter Taksim Square to ‘clear banners’

Riot police have taken partial control of Taksim Square after entering the site around 7.30 a.m. and surrounded the Atatürk Statue following use of tear gas and pressurized water on the protesters. As of 11:30, a human chain had been formed to prevent the police from intervening, but was immediately dispersed by the officers. Crowds at the park do not come down [...] → Read the full article…

New Yorker: In Taksim Square, Where are the Kurds?

One evening last week, just before six, members of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (B.D.P.) gathered in front of the high iron gates of Galatasaray High School, in Istanbul. They planned to march to Taksim Square, about half a mile away, where they would join a mass of protesters. In the square, a range of groups have joined together [...] → Read the full article…

Hürriyet Daily News: Turkish police admits suicides, denies link to Gezi Park protests

While admitting the occurrence of suicide cases in the last two weeks, the Police Department has strictly denied that these suicides were connected to the recent Gezi Park protests. Press and Public Relations Directorate of the Police Department, in a written statement released on June 10, denied news reports which were based on remarks by police union Emniyet-Sen head Faruk [...] → Read the full article…

BBC News: Turkey’s Erdogan to meet protesters

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to meet the organisers of ongoing protests against his government on Wednesday, says his deputy. Bulent Arinc said Mr Erdogan would “listen to their thoughts”, but added that illegal protests would not be allowed. The prime minister has taken a tough line with the protesters. The anti-government unrest was sparked by a police [...] → Read the full article…

Bianet: A Graphic History of the Gezi Resistance

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Infografik website released a graphic recapping the Gezi Resistance events between May 29 and June 6. Infografik, a website dedicated to graphic representation and sharing of societal information, released a graphic by industrial products designers Emrah Cengiz. The graphic recapped the Gezi Resistance events between May 29 and June 6. bianet is publishing “The Days of the Resistance”, a work [...] → Read the full article…

The Telegraph: Turkish opposition accuses Erdogan of dragging country ‘into the fire’

Turkey’s opposition leader accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of dragging the country “into the fire”, as anti-government protests that have seen three deaths entered their 11th day. “We are witnessing a prime minister who is trying to hold on to power by creating tensions,” Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition Republican People’s Party was quoted as saying by national [...] → Read the full article…

Why the Turkish protests matter to the west

This isn’t just about lipstick – if Turkey can’t reconcile secularism, Islam and democracy, there will be global repercussions. Secularism: what does it mean to the people of Turkey? Is it simply a question of whether we can buy alcohol when we please, or whether the cabin crew of Turkish airlines are allowed to wear red lipstick? It cannot simply [...] → Read the full article…

USA Today: Turkey premier to meet with Istanbul protesters

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s prime minister will meet with a group of protesters occupying Istanbul’s central Taksim Square this week, the deputy prime minister said Monday, as the government sought a way out of the impasse that has led to hundreds of protests in dozens of cities. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said, however, the government would no longer [...] → Read the full article…

The Feminist Wire: Why Every City Needs a Center Square: On the Turkish Uprisings, Coalition Building and Coexistence

It has been almost two weeks since May 28th, when the residents of Istanbul started protesting the urban renewal project instigated by Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (RTE), which would replace Taksim Gezi Park situated at the city center with a shopping mall and with restored Ottoman barracks.[1] The peaceful protests that started as an objection to the demolishing of [...] → Read the full article…