On this day in 2013, Turkish protesters began occupying Gezi Park to oppose its demolition, an act with led to widespread protests and strikes with approximately 3,500,000 participants, 22 deaths, and more than 8,000 injuries.
The wave of civil unrest across Turkey began after the park occupation was violently evicted by police, who used to tear gas, pepper spray, and water cannons to try and break up the protests, injuring more than one hundred people and hospitalizing a journalist.
The protest quickly grew in size - by May 31st, 10,000 gathered in Istiklal Avenue. In June, the protests became national in scope and transcended any particular demographic or political ideology. Among the wide range of concerns brought by protesters were issues of freedom of the press, expression, and assembly, as well as the alleged political Islamist government's erosion of Turkey's secularism.
Millions of Turkish football fans, normally divided by intense sports rivalry, marched in unity against the government. Protesters displayed symbols the environmentalist movement, rainbow banners, depictions of Che Guevara, different trade unions, and the PKK and its leader Abdullah Öcalan.
On June 4th, Taksim Dayanışması (Taksim Solidarity) issued a set of demands that included the preservation of Gezi Park, an end to police violence, the right to freedom of assembly, and an end to the privatization of public spaces. Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç met the group on June 5th and rejected these demands.
Erdoğan blamed the protests on "internal traitors and external collaborators", demonizing his political opposition as the former. Despite the popular mobilization, Erdoğan remained in power and no major concessions were won from the government.
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WHY does rubbing your eyes feel SO FREAKIN' GOOD
I researched getting lasik and the post op care was like "and you can't rub your eyes for the rest of your life". Hard pass.
Fuck, how does one even avoid it?! My allergies are the worst during spring time too, sounds like torture to NEVER be able to. Luckily I have astigmatism and can't get Lasik anyway
I think people say you shouldn't rub your eyes because it's addictive.
I wonder why though? Like, since it feels so good is there an evolutionary reason for that? Also I think if you rub too hard you can scratch your cornea or something like that, too. Luckily that hasn't been the case for me as far as I know.
Not everything has an evolutionary purpose. Sometimes things are incidental and stick around cause there's no reasonable way or reason to select against them.