What happens in Turkey…
should not stay in Turkey, aka a brief explanation on why the Turkish people have been protesting for the last five days.
Those who follow Twitter should have noticed by now that some of the most popular tags used worldwide relate to Turkey. Some of these people know by now that there are widespread protestations against the government across Turkey. Yet others sadly don’t know the extent of the problems.
How it all started
Taksim Square is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Istanbul and Gezi Parkı is a public park that is one of the last green patches of space in the city itself. The government has plans to erect a shopping mall in that space and have received a large number of complaints and concerned people have started peaceful protestations todemonstrate their concern. In the morning of May 31st, Friday, the police have used teargas on these people and things started get serious afterwards.
It truly is notable that the public reaction to this incident has been of such a scale. First Istanbul, then Ankara,then fifty cities have risen up against this injustice towards peaceful protestors.
It didn’t take long after this initial outburst for things to escalate to a whole another level. Police’s excessive usage of teargas, water cannons and other forms of violance on the protestors along with some derogatory remarks made by none other than our Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, resulted in a long overdue reaction against the government and the way things are going in Turkey.
I’m a resident of Turkey and even though I am very keen on keeping up with foreign media, I can’t know how Turkey is seen from the outside. From the inside, the values upon which our republic has been founded are just illusions. Democracy is an illusion. Secularity is an illusion. Modernism is an illusion.
Sure, we still vote and our votes still choose our government. But democracy isn’t just about voting to appoint a government, it is also a guarantee that no matter who I vote for, my rights as a human being will be protected in my country.
Our rights have been ignored for the last couple of years. Below is a list of what was done to make people rise up against the government, over a green patch of land in Istanbul no less.
1. Birth control
Birth control methods have largely been taken under strict government supervision. Women can no longer go to the doctor, have an abortion and get back to their home. Their parents are notified by the government, without asking them first. This is a very big deal in Turkey, extra marital sex is a big taboo and many women understandably don’t wish to inform their parents about their recent abortion. No worries, the government will take care of it for you, without asking you! They have texted parents of various women informing them that they were going to be grandparents!
We have pills called “day after pills” here, I just don’t know what they are called in other countries. They are no longer pills that you can buy after sexual intercourse with your partner. You have to get a prescription for them.
On top of all these, our Prime Minister gives televised speeches where he urges everyone to have at least three children even though most of the country have problems getting by with what they are earning in a month.
It is our right to have sex and make the choice on whether to have children or not. The government is responsible of educating the young population (in a scientific manner, not religious) about sex and take a step back after they are eighteen years old. The fact that the government has stepped into our bedrooms is a very serious violation of our privacy and basic human rights.
2. Alcohol
While alcohol consumption is not prohibited (yet), there are very serious restrictions that relate to alcohol. Recently, the government has made it illegal for alcoholic beverage producers to promote their products.
The government also made it illegal to sell and buy alcohol between the hours 22:00 (10 PM) and 06:00 (6 AM), no exceptions. This is even effective in touristic areas. It is currently allowed for bars to sell alcohol but it is clear where this is going to go. I don’t believe for a second that those hours were chosen arbitrarily. Most people drink alcohol in the evenings, they start around eight in the evening and continue as long as they wish. This is a step to stop alcohol consumption in Turkey.
Again, I don’t know how well this is known in foreign countries, but Turkey has a national drink called raki. Raki has been our national drink for centuries, yet the Prime Minister has declared our national drink to be Ayran (basically water and yoghurt mixed together). Of course, this is not a law but the message is pretty clear again.
Drinking is a great human tradition and it is also a great Turkish tradition (seriously, call me up if you want have a taste of raki and sample our drinking traditions). As long as we enjoy alcohol responsibly no one has the right to restrict our alcohol consumption.
3. Accountability
Last, but the most important, is our right to ask the government “What the hell are you doing?”. We may or may not have voted for the ruling body, but it is our right as a nation to hold the government accountable for their actions.
This doesn’t apply to the current government. Prime Minister Erdoğan has repeatedly said that “his will shall be done” in various manners. He refuses to be held accountable for what he and his government has done and is doing. Just a couple of hours ago, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has said on television that they “could have removed internet access across the country but didn’t”. Internet access is a right and the fact that a government official can say that they have made us a favor by not removing internet access is a clear indication of their dictatorial rule.
How we got here from a park
What started as peaceful demonstrations got to such a point that our cities are covered with teargas bomb shells. Every day thousands of people gather in cities and ask the government to step down. I see many people in other countries perplexed by the change of tone of the demonstrations. Here’s how it progressed:
After the initial police attack on Gezi Park demonstrators people rose up against the use of overwhelming force on peaceful protestors. Thousands of people walked out of their homes and protested the police. Excessive use of police force has continued during these demonstrations.
In response, Prime Minister Erdoğan has made derogatory remarks about the protestors and threatened the people with the following sentence: “If you gather a hundred thousand people, I will gather a million people.” He called the protestors alcoholic, useless people. He refused to calmly acknowledge our initial protests against police’s use of overwhelming force and our wish that Gezi Park should stay as it is.
In hindsight, his street fighter, bravado reactions are not new at all. He has made the same in Davos, Switzerland. At the time, the majority of the Turkish nation applauded him for speaking out and leaving the conference the way he did, not recognizing the fact that he basically accomplished nothing constructive. He has made these extremely fascist remarks against his own people, by calling atheists never-do-wells.
And now what started as a demonstration for Gezi Park has turned into a nation-wide demonstration against the government. People are spilling into the streets as soon as they get back from work or school. They are peacefully shouting their discontent with what has been going in the last ten years.
Conclusion
Before proceeding to the conclusion itself, I would like to apologize from the government and the police for our disproportionate use of the Force during our demonstrations.
I am perhaps the least politically inclined person among my friends. I usually choose not to comment on politics and very rarely get into political discussions. I chose to write this so that our friends in other countries can better understand why we’re protesting against the government.
I chose to write this myself because our media refuses to report on the situation, because they are in the government’s pocket. I chose to write this because our government is trying to supress its people from reporting these wrongdoings (Turkcell, Turkey’s biggest cell phone service provider recently reported that they were under fire from the government to stop their 3G service).
I hope I have made a good job of it.
