Category Archives: Interviews

Ankara Resistance Post: Video Interview with Sayfi Sarısülük

Interview with Sayfi Sarısülük, the mother of Ethem Sarısülük (26) who was shot dead by a police bullet during Gezi protests in Ankara. Police attacked people who gathered for his funeral in Kızılay Square, and his hearing in Ankara courthouse. Plainclothes policemen harassed and threatened the Sarısülük family. Court refused to arrest his killer, policeman Ahmet Şahbaz. The killer is protected by [...] → Read the full article…

Jadaliyya: On Why Struggles over Urban Space Matter – An Interview with David Harvey

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Why do urban struggles matter in projects of social change? What is the importance of reclaiming public space in social movements? And at this gloomy global moment of extreme urban disparities and social inequalities, how do we re-think what is possible? For insights on these questions, we interviewed David Harvey on 24 October 2013. Harvey is the Distinguished Professor of Anthropology & [...] → Read the full article…

Hurriyet Daily News: Turkey’s democracy deficit led to Gezi protests – SI Secretary General

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Turkey’s Gezi Park protests have clearly reflected the distance between the priorities of the Turkish people and the Turkish government, Socialist International (SI) Secretary-General Luis Ayala has said ahead of the group’s summit in Istanbul, which will begin with a special session on Gezi. We are very interested in listening and learning more of the Gezi Park protests. That’s why [...] → Read the full article…

Public Seminar: Michael Hardt on Continuity and Leadership – An Interview After the Talk Turkey Conference

Michael Hardt at the Occupy Solidarity and Global Consequences panel  and here in an interview after the conference, argues that since 2011— different from previous “nomadic” global movements—these new protests have been rooted in territory, demand a new definition of publicity and commons beyond the false “public/private” separation. Furthermore, with their “multitude” form, these occupations and encampments have provided a [...] → Read the full article…

Dissent: Gezi Park Protests and the Future of Turkish Politics – An Interview with Seyla Benhabib

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Seyla Benhabib is the Eugene Mayer Professor of Political Science and Philosophy at Yale University. Recently, Begum Adalet, Defne Over, Onur Ozgode and Semih Salihoglu interviewed Professor Benhabib about Gezi Park protests, their significance within the wider pattern of cosmopolitan, contentious politics emerging alongside neoliberal global capitalism and their impact on the future of Turkish politics.  Gezi Park protests, June 15, 2013 A recent [...] → Read the full article…

Green Left Weekly: Youth are still fighting amid plans for People’s Assemblies – interview with Ender Imrek

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Ender Imrek is a member of the Taksim Platform, the key organising centre during the Gezi Park protests. He is also former vice-president of the revolutionary socialist party Labour Party-Turkey (EMEP) and a central executive member of left-wing umbrella group the People’s Democratic Congress (HDK). The HDK played a key role during the Gezi protests, when police brutally evicted protesters seeking [...] → Read the full article…

Open Democracy: Three-way conversation in Istanbul

Members of resistance movements from Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia come together on Gezi Radyo to compare experiences, discuss ways to cooperate and debate how to build a better future. Gezi Radyo organized a mid-August meeting between members of the three resistance movements for change from Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey: Sameh Naguib, co-founder of Egypt’s Revolutionary Socialists Souheil Idoudi 
from Tunisia’s Union of [...] → Read the full article…

BBC Turkish: “Okan Göçer”, a Gezi story

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Okan Göçer sustained head injuries due to a tear gas canister on June 1st on Istiklal Street where he had gone to participate in the Gezi protests. He was in a coma for twenty one days. The left side of his head collapsed as a result of his broken skull. We met with him at Okmeydanı Hospital. He wore a [...] → Read the full article…

Evrensel: Torture with sugar to diabetic patient under custody!

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Nurse Hazal Kangal was taken into custody while she was on her emergency service shift. Nurse Kangal, who was on duty in Ankara, Basbakanlik during Gezi resistance had been on call for 24 hours when she was taken into custody for “being flagged” on another incident. Kangal was detained before within the scope of Hopa case, for attending the protests [...] → Read the full article…

Art in America: Poetry of Protest – An Interview with Fulya Erdemci

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The 13th Istanbul Biennial, titled “Mom, Am I Barbarian?” (Sept. 14-Oct. 20) aims to examine the public domain as a political forum. A statement released by the organizers in January said that the exhibition would highlight art projects that “activate social engagement and public forums to generate the possibility of rethinking the concept of ‘publicness’.” It also stated that the [...] → Read the full article…