Category Archives: Texts

Turkeyetc: “Seni Bilen Hayran, Bilmeyen Düşman” or, Why Erdogan Remains So Popular

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At a rally in Bakırköy last Saturday, members of the all-female audience were whipped up like teenagers at a pop concert long before the main speaker arrived. “Who are we waiting for?” teased the compere. “Recep Tayyip Erdoğan!” they roared in reply. When I asked some of the women what they liked about Turkey’s Prime Minister, most struggled at first [...] → Read the full article…

Human Rights Watch: Dispatches – Turkey – Justice for Berkin Elvan

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Fifteen-year-old Berkin Elvan has died after 269 days in a coma. The Istanbul schoolboy incurred a head injury that doctors say was most likely inflicted by police shooting a teargas canister directly at him at close range.  The incident happened during the June 2013 protests in many Istanbul neighborhoods and in cities across Turkey, triggered by the police’s violent dispersal [...] → Read the full article…

Roar Magazine: Culmination of Resistance Against Urban Neoliberalism – Burak Köse

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Emerging from a long history of resistance to the AKP’s spatial politics, Gezi made it possible to imagine a more egalitarian and democratic way of life. On December 17, 2013, Turkey woke up to another morning of dawn operations involving raids, home and office searches, and arrests that have become a routine in the legal and political landscape of the [...] → Read the full article…

The Guardian: Where will it kick off next? – Paul Mason

A boy wearing a Guy Fawkes mask in Gezi Park

The Gezi Park events marked a turning point in the global unrest we’re living through. Though not officially a Bric country, Turkey has most of the attributes of one – high growth, a young population, a repressive state prone to corruption and arbitrary action. So after Gezi it was no surprise to see Brazil’s protest movement spiral into a million people on the [...] → Read the full article…

Open Democracy: Turkey and neoliberalism, a prequel to #occupyGezi – Kerem Nişancıoğlu

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The drive to reclaim a people’s right to their city led to the revival of Turkish civic identity and highlighted the growing importance of social capital. Why did it take so long for Turkey? Before the summer of 2013, Turkey was considered one of the few success stories of the post-2008 global political economy. Within the last decade the country [...] → Read the full article…

Istanbul Kent Mitingi: Mass Rally in Kadikoy on December 22 – Our Call to Reclaim Istanbul

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We are the people of Istanbul, we reclaim our city! To unite, to get organized and to say “Isatnbul is ours,” we are meeting in Kadikoy on December 22! Those craving for money and power have, by means of their political power and their local authorities, commoditized İstanbul and put on sale its neighborhoods, public squares, forests, its history and [...] → Read the full article…

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…

Al-Monitor: Jailed cartoons of Turkey – Pınar Tremblay

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Political cartoons as a form of graphic protest still have an effect on the body politics of Turkey. Even those who may not understand Turkish can see the message in a caricature. Cartoons make us not only smile, but promptly locate the undeniable truth in our minds. Erdogan is aware of this power, hence there is a Wikipedia entry in Turkish, ”Cartoons [...] → Read the full article…

Firat News: The reason why I am a conscientious objector – Mehmet Yıldırım

Mehmet Yıldırım, the brother of Medeni Yıldırım who was shot and killed by Turkish soldiers during a protest against a base construction in Lice this past June, has announced that he will refuse to do his military service. Mehmet Yildirim has demanded the right to conscientious objector status, saying “If I pick a weapon I will have picked up a [...] → 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…