What is Happening in Turkey

What Is Happening in Turkey? Gezi Park Protests Istanbul Explanation There is a lot of information spread on the current situation in Turkey which began as a small protest. Not everyone has enough time to analyze the events in-depth. Also there are different sides of the story. This infographic summa- rizes all the facts as objectively as possible. The main stream (Turkish) media does not show all the facts and democ- racy can not exist without access to public information. How it all started On the surface, it all just started with a small group of environmentalist protesting the plans of replacing Taksim Gezi Park with a reconstruction of the historic Taksim Military Barracks with the possibility of housing a shopping mall. 28 May 2013, work machinery tried to remove the trees by ignoring a small group of protesters (approximately 50 people). Istanbul MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder also arrived at the park and jumped in front of the machines to stop the removal of the trees and the protest received suddenly more media attention. 31 May 2013, the group of protesters were requested by police to leave the park. The protesters did not do this and the police used physical force to get the protesters off. The police used tear gas and with doused them with water cannons. There are also claims that tents were set on fire by the police. In the assessment of the people there was excessive use of force by the police and more people came to the area to support the protesters. Developing into anti-government demonstrations Police continued firing tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons at demonstrators, with more than 100 injuries reported. Photo's and video's of the usage of disproportionate force spread through social media. This attracted more and more people to the area to protest. At 1 pm a new sit-in was held at Taksim Square, but police again dispersed it and the protest spread to other areas in Istanbul. Large protests also occurred in Ankara, Izmir and other cities in Turkey and police seized hard. Response of Tayyip Erdogan on the protests On 29 May, after the initial protests, Erdoğan gave a speech reiterating his commitment to the redevelopment plan, saying "Whatever you do, we've made our decision and we will implement it". On 1 June Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan gave a televised speech con- demning the protestors and vowing that "where they gather 20, I will get up and gather 200,000 people. Where they gather 100,000, I will bring together one million from my party". Tayyip Erdogan tried to portray the whole issue as a minor, isolated distur- bance brought on by a few disgruntled extremists. He has blamed violent anti-government protests on social media, calling Twitter a "menace" and saying "the best examples of lies can be found there. To me, social media is the worst menace to society." Further development of the protests Videos showing the extent of police brutality started to surface on various websites. Lavna Allani was shot in Istanbul in the head with a teargas canister and is in a critical condition with a broken skull. Mehmet Ayvalıtaş has been hit and killed after a car driver ignored warnings to stop for protesters in Istanbul. Ethem Sarısülük was shot in Ankara by the police. Many people witnessed that he was shot and mortally wounded in the head. Abdullah Cömert died in a hospital after he was shot in Hatay. Vahabi Sepehr in Istanbul and Vedat Oguz in Antalya have serious injury to their eyes caused by police firing teargas. What do people actually want? There is not a unified reason for all protesters. It all started protesting against the felling of trees in the park but it is now a much bigger problem with different goals. Here are some demands called by the protestors. Ensuring that there is freedom Identifying and punishing police and rulers who caused the use of Stopping the authoritarian Stopping corrup- tion and enrich- of information ment of Erdogan and his relatives. and that the behavior of Erdogan disproportionate force. media is not con- trolled. Releasing intel- lectuals and Members of Ensure that Resigning of Tayyip Erdogan. No restriction Parliament wil| of personal Turkey remains not get prefer- ential rights. artists from freedom. secular. prison. What has caused this anger? There are actually a lot of small issues referred. It is often described as the straw that broke the camel's back. But to give an impression we can enumerate a number of issues. 1 May - International Workers' Day 25 May - Alcohol regulations Protest against (in- ternet) censorship Press and Media Freedom It was forbidden to enter the square and celebrate 1 May. Leftist movements New regulations are passed and people are afraid that it will cause Turkey is the world's leading jailer of jour- nalists. At least 49 are behind bars. Turkey ranks 154th among 15 May 2011 a demonstration was that the society will be intolerant and held against Internet censorship. But the restrictions were still have been very frus- trated how this individual freedoms introduced. 179 countries in Press decision was imposed. will be violated. Freedom Index. Ergenekon trials and prisoners Relations with neigh- boring countries Secret deal with the Constitutional rewrite PKK The five-year-long prosecution of 275 senior military officers, academics and journal- PKK has been begin- ning withdrawing but nobody knows what exactly PKK will get in exchange. The process has not been transpar- The Turkish govern- ment is under attack for its assertive policy towards Syria. Explo- sions in Reyhanli and the media cover up The changes may end secularism and change Turkey slowly in to an Islamic state by removing values as Ataturk and national celebrations. ists is not closed but its verdict already has been rendered. ent. makes people worried. Derogatory statements GMO food entering Turkey Environmental Culture demolishment degradation Products that jeopar- dize people's health are being imported. Companies involved in Nature law will allow Historic venues (such as the Emek theatre) and cultural heritage need to make way for shopping complexes and other profitable Tayyip Erdogan uses words and a language protected areas to be opened for construc- tion. Government about minorities that a lot of people found arrogant and offen- sive or feel they are not taken seriously. rushes to build dams, 21 tons of seized GMO rice still deny hydro and nuclear power plants. real estate. the allegations. Icons designed by Monika Ciapala, Amar Chadgar, Humberto Pornaro, Simon Child, Ezra Keddell, Alex Sheyn, Andrey Gerasimov from The Noun Project Yusuf Arslan