An enormous outpouring of grief and antigovernment rage during the funeral procession for a teenage boy felled by a police tear-gas canister turned into another mass confrontation with the Turkish authorities on Wednesday as mourners clashed with antiriot squads in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. At least one person was killed. The new unrest came a day after protesters battled with [...] → Read the full article…
Issues that people are facing in the traffic or formation of little pools around Taksim area are because of the flaws of construction projects; these flaws are irreversible, Murat Ergün, professor of construction at ITU, told Bianet. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality completed its pedestrianization project of Taksim Sqaure. Currently, the car traffic between Tarlabaşı Boulevard and Cumhuriyet Avenue is going to [...] → Read the full article…
A crackdown on anti-government protests forced the art show to abandon its more edgy ideas. But the spirit of Taksim Square is not entirely absent For the time being, the days of “art for art’s sake” are over in Turkey. A police crackdown on a fresh protest in Taksim Square threatened to overshadow the opening of the Istanbul Biennial, the country’s most important [...] → Read the full article…
Now in its 13th edition, this year’s Istanbul Biennial, which runs through Oct. 20, is called “Mom, Am I a Barbarian?” taking its title from a book by the Turkish poet Lale Muldur. It fills five venues in Istanbul’s bustling downtown, bringing together 88 artists from around the world: 15 of them are Turkish, others are from Latin America, the [...] → Read the full article…
What made Gezi Experience particularly striking is that through the commoning of Taksim (that is, its ‘enclosure’ against the state), and collective production of space, people were already actively producing a different kind of urban life. The Gezi struggle therefore was not simply about the conservation of an existing commons, but the defense – through production – of a future urban commons. [...] → Read the full article…
ISTANBUL - Police fired water cannons and tear gas at a group of demonstrators who gathered in Taksim Square to protest the violence used against a 14-year-old teenager who has been in intensive care for 46 days after being hit by a tear gas canister in Istanbul during the Gezi Park unrest. Berkin Elvan was not a protester but a by-stander [...] → Read the full article…
Istanbul (CNN) — Turkish counter-terror police launched pre-dawn raids against scores of targets across Turkey’s largest city Tuesday. At least 30 suspects were detained, Turkey’s semi-official Anatolian Agency reported, in connection with anti-government protests that erupted in Istanbul in late May. What’s driving unrest and protests in Turkey? The Turkish Interior Ministry, the Istanbul governor’s office and Istanbul police declined [...] → Read the full article…
From Lufthansa to the CIA, Turkey’s government has come up with some worrying conspiracy theories to explain Gezi Park It has to be said that when the Turkish government began to flail around for the “real reasons” behind the Gezi protests, their initial conspiracy theories lacked imagination – the CIA, Europeans jealous of their economic success, unspecified foreign forces in [...] → Read the full article…
Authorities failing to prosecute crimes against protesters. Following the death of a fifth protester, the FIDH deplores the response to the demonstrations that have been held throughout Turkey since 28 May. Rather than promoting reconciliation and ensuring that Turkey’s citizens are protected and freedom of speech respected, the authorities are engaging in a veritable “witch hunt” against protesters, observers and [...] → Read the full article…
The Turkish authorities must immediately release peaceful demonstrators who were detained in Taksim yesterday. They must also investigate allegations of the excessive use of force after riot police used tear gas and water canons to clear the square and neighbouring Gezi park, Amnesty International said. “The authorities in Turkey have the duty to ensure people can peacefully gather and express [...] → Read the full article…