Category Archives: Statements

Jadaliyya: Labor and Justice Coalition declaration on Taksim Gezi Park protests

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[This statement was released by Emek ve Adalet Platformu (the Labor and Justice Coalition) on 14 June. For the Turkish version of this statement, click here; for the Arabic version, click here.] The intention behind transforming Taksim Gezi Park, replacing it with malls and hotels, springs out of a particular way of thinking that regards city space as property for [...] → Read the full article…

Alternative Informatics Association: Resist Social Media

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The wave of resistance that started at Gezi Park on the 29. of May in Istanbul and has since spread all over Turkey once again revealed a deep connection between real time communication on social media and social movements. Throughout the protests, social media platforms have become the primary news source in this environment where the mainstream media have proven [...] → Read the full article…

United Nations Human Rights: Pillay urges Turkey’s government and civil society to take urgent action to defuse tensions

GENEVA (18 June 2013) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Tuesday welcomed last week’s decision by the Turkish Government to put on hold further action on the Gezi Park development in Istanbul until there is a court decision, and then to submit the issue to a local referendum. She urged Turkey’s government and civil society to [...] → Read the full article…

Reporters Without Borders: Mounting police violence against journalists covering ‘Occupy Gezi”

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Reporters Without Borders strongly condemns the continuing arbitrary arrests and escalating violence against journalists covering anti-government demonstrations in Turkey. At least eight journalists were briefly arrested yesterday in Istanbul. Violence spread after the police retook Istanbul’s Gezi Park on the evening of 15 June. Media personnel were kept at a distance from the police operation and access to Taksim Square [...] → Read the full article…

What is happening in Istanbul?: International intellectuals call on the Turkish government to desist from its repression of popular protest

We deplore the recent crackdown of the Turkish government on its own citizens, the clearly unjustified use of tear gas, acts of force, gas canisters and smoke bombs that have resulted in a vast number of injuries, imperiling the lives of those who seek to exercise their basic freedoms of assembly and protest.  This assault of the Turkish government on [...] → Read the full article…

The Guardian: Concern at response to Turkish protests

As academics at the University of Oxford, we would like to express our deep concern about the events taking place in Turkey. In response to the protests in Istanbul, as well as in other towns and cities in the country, rights and freedoms are being severely curtailed. In addition to what seems to be the deployment of excessive police force, [...] → Read the full article…

The statement of TEVITOL alumni

An announcement to the attention of the authorities and the general public on behalf of the TEVITOL alumni: We have been following the events that have been taking place at Taksim Gezi Park and in other parts of the country since 31 May. A sizeable part of our nation has been conducting their peaceful protest and trying to voice their [...] → Read the full article…

Jadaliyya: Artists in Resistance: In solidarity with the resistance at Gezi Park

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[The following statement was released by the undersigned group of artists on 3 June 2013 at Gezi Park. Click here for more information. Support messages can be sent to artistsinresistanceturkey@gmail.com.] We, the artists of Turkey, express our serious concern over the ongoing incidents which have erupted in Istanbul with the Gezi Park resistance, and which have instigated spontaneous protests all [...] → Read the full article…

12 June, Press Release from Taksim Solidarity.

As TAKSIM SOLIDARITY, we want to announce that none of our representatives have been invited and none will be participating to the meetings that will be held with Prime Minister. No meeting, while the police violence disregarding right to life so relentlessly continues in and around the Gezi Park, will produce results. As the citizens of Turkey follow closely, a [...] → Read the full article…

Academics for Gezi: Our Call

As academics concerned with the recent developments in Turkey, we stand in solidarity with the people peacefully protesting to protect Gezi Park in Taksim, and we condemn the excessive police brutality that was inflicted on them. What started on Monday, May 27, as a movement to peacefully protest the demolition of a public park and its replacement with a shopping [...] → Read the full article…