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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It’s a safe haven more so than a place of radicalization. Why would we need people doing praxis at protests be aware of this site where the majority of people here complain about things that aren’t important.
| Fuck off with this "only true leftist" bullshit.
You said it not me lol
The most praxis done on this site is through mutual aid and trans comms, other than that this is just a refuge for people to vent and read news. Federation failed it didn’t work how people thought it would (recruiting libs but actually just dunking on them to further solidify their beliefs that posting is praxis), the students protesting already understand all the things we talk about on here. So you want more people to nod their heads in agreement with us? You actually want more harm to come to us because some counter protesting zionazi locates the logo and starts doxxing campaigns, that does more harm than it does good and we don’t need to be put on the map just for online clout