Category Archives: Texts

Bianet: Police detains children on Children’s National Day

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Police detained 4 children for chanting “Berkin Elvan is immortal” during Istanbul’s official April 23 celebrations attended by Governor Mutlu. Police detained 4 children for chanting “Berkin Elvan is immortal” during Istanbul’s official April 23 celebrations attended by Governor Mutlu. The incident took place as Governor Mutlu headed toward the podium for an award ceremony. The aforementioned children initially faced [...] → Read the full article…

The Independent: Turkey’s actions in Syria see PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan go from model Middle East ‘strongman’ to tin-pot dictator – Robert Fisk

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Erdogan sent in the police to crush the demonstrators of Gezi Park last year, went berserk when it was suggested his party and relatives were involved in corruption scams, and fired or removed hundreds of police and security officers. Then he promised to wipe out “social media” before the municipal elections which he inevitably won, and uttered the kind of [...] → Read the full article…

Project Syndicate: Turkey’s Electoral Dictatorship – Timur Kuran

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In the run-up to Turkey’s municipal elections on March 30, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that the popular vote would serve as a referendum on his scandal-plagued leadership. With the help of his Justice and Development Party (AKP), which centered its campaigning on him, Erdoğan was able to redefine the elections. His opponents blindly played along, hoping that the [...] → Read the full article…

Jadaliyya: Alevizing Gezi – Ayfer Karakaya-Stump

Berkin’in vuruldugu yerde toren duzenlendi

Berkin Elvan’s funeral services, which were held at the Okmeydani Cemevi on 12 March, once again raised the question of why all six youths killed during the Gezi Protests—or, if we are to approach the Gezi process within a broader framework, why seven out of eight youths killed—were Alevîs. Indeed, the question is not a new one; months prior to [...] → Read the full article…

Channel 4 News: Seven reasons why Turkey’s Twitter ban matters to the world – Paul Mason

Erdogan attends a ceremony marking the 99th anniversary of the end of the Gallipoli campaign in Gallipoli

1. Erdogan’s pretext for shutting down Twitter is the existence of two accounts he claims are slanderous, which have been linking to allegedly fake recordings that show him as corrupt. This is not the first time a government has threatened, or acted, to shut down Twitter when faced with political opposition. When Mubarak did it he was overthrown shortly afterwards. Erdogan enjoys [...] → Read the full article…

New York Times: After the Protests – Zeynep Tufekci

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Media in the hands of citizens can rattle regimes. It makes it much harder for rulers to maintain legitimacy by controlling the public sphere. But activists, who have made such effective use of technology to rally supporters, still need to figure out how to convert that energy into greater impact. LAST Wednesday, more than 100,000 people showed up in Istanbul [...] → Read the full article…

The American Interest: The End of Erdogan – Henri J. Barkey

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Even if his party manages to scrape by in Turkey’s upcoming municipal elections on March 30, Prime Minister Erdogan has already done irreparable harm to his brand. It is hard to imagine how in any society a Prime Minister caught on tape firing journalists because he does not like their point of view or instructing television stations to stop the [...] → Read the full article…

Al-Monitor: Erdogan’s silence shows absence of moral compass – Amberin Zaman

Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan steps off from his plane as he arrives in Elazig for an election rally of his ruling AK Party

On March 12, thousands of Turkish citizens poured into the streets of Istanbul to take part in the funeral of Berkin Elvan. The 15-year-old boy with huge dark eyes and an impish smile has emerged as a symbol of protest against the tightening grip of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Across the nation, thousands more are chanting “Killer Erdogan,” and braving water cannons [...] → Read the full article…

ROAR Magazine: Death of Turkish teenager awakens dormant Gezi spirit – Binnaz Saktanber

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The death of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan, who spent 269 days in coma after being hit by a teargas canister last June, is sparking renewed protests in Turkey. On Tuesday, Berkin Elvan died. He was 15 years old and weighed a mere 35 pounds (16 kilograms) at the time of his death. He was in a coma for the last 269 [...] → Read the full article…

Eagainst.com: A message for unity and friendship: nothing to divide us anymore…

Alexis Berkin

The news of the death of 15-year-old Berkin Elvan after after 269 days in a coma due to head injury in the demonstrations for park Gezi last June in Istanbul, came not as a surprise to us. This undeniably remind us of the murder of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in Athens five years ago, which led to the December uprising. Today his [...] → Read the full article…

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