Τούρκοι
φίλοι με παρακαλούν να γράψω για όσα συμβαίνουν στην Τουρκία επειδή τα εκεί ΜΜΕ
δε δείχνουν τίποτε. Έγραψα λοιπόν αυτό το άρθρο για το Open Salon, τη Νεοϋορκέζικη
'ομπρέλα' υπό την οποία γράφω το αγγλόφωνό
μου.
Θα γράψω
και ελληνικά βέβαια μα προς το παρόν αν νοιάζεστε γράψτε ή κοινοποιήστε εικόνες ή κείμενα, άλλων ή τα δικά μου.
(Το αμερικάνικο blog μου είναι ΕΔΩ).
A
wave of great demonstrations in Turkey started in Istanbul now that sudden
economic development is rapidly threatening with demolitions and modernizations
it's unique historic beauty.
Three
stupid ideas aggravated the citizens last week. One ―the
silliest― was the proposal of creating more regulations for
alcohol consumption in a country where despite the Kemalist
secularism that saved it from Islamist fundamentalism, it is still impossible
(illegal) to order a drink 200 meters from a mosque. And there is a least one
mosque in any corner at the historical city centre so all week the running joke
was about a great Thank You from my country, Greece the neighboring
impoverished Eurozone member which cannot compete with the Turkish Lira.
Second
came the celebratory ribbon cutting of the controversial new Bosphorus Bridge with
a cost of $3 billion and many trees. 1.3-kilometer in length and 59-meter-wide will be the widest
bridge in the world with a railroad on it and, as the Turkish Transport
Minister said proudly, 'its 322-meter-high lateral towers will be the highest
in the world' as well. But there is a lot of concern that the construction of
the third bridge will lead to the destruction of Istanbul’s remaining green
areas near the Black Sea
coast while creating more traffic problems to the city. "Many ‘crazy’ projects under way"
dared to write the Turkish paper Hurriyet describing the ceremony that "ended with collective prayers both to
commemorate martyrs and to celebrate the 560th anniversary of the conquest of
Istanbul". Those "collective
prayers" are typical of the road Ertogan has taken and difficult to
ignore in a secular state with a long muslim past and neighbors. Combined with his
indifference for any
enviromental issues, they caused alarm.
And
third, more tree felling at the Gezi Park in the centre of the European side of
this amazing city, Taksim square where city planners decided to create an
immense cement parking lot with a shopping Mall that is not really needed or
wanted.
This
parking lot with a Mall was a self destructing idea for the Ertogan government.
It is in Taksim square, the Beyoglu, Pera aria where westerners used to live
since before the conquest. There most Embassies and the foreign prestigious
schools are located which, along with the numerous hotels, clubs and sightseeing
passers-by, have made it the ideal spot for demonstrations in a country that
police brutality is the norm and there is no news coverage of any resentment or
anti-government ideas.
So it
was as usual on Friday but what started as a peaceful sitting protest in Gezi
park in Istanbul's Taksim, escalated when the police used tear gas (from photos
of the metal containers it appears to be a dangerous kind forbidden in the EU)
and a water cannon on thousands of protesters who were marching from the east
to the west side of the city over the Bosphorus river bridge to join the
demonstrations.
As
the police dropped tear-gas canisters from helicopters overnight "about half past one the entire city started
to reverberate. People were banging on pots, pans, blowing whistles" we
heard from the BBC World Service. 40.000 people crossed the bridge between Asia
and Europe yesterday and the BBC correspondent Louise Greenwood in Istanbul said
"police from as far afield as
Antalya are being drafted in to help quell the violence". Taksim and
bridges remain closed to traffic but in Ankara hundreds gathered at a park
defiantly drinking alcohol in public as a protest to the recent government
restrictions. Amnesty International has already condemned the "police's tactics".
But
while police forces are being drafted and protesters gathering Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted in a speech that the park project would go ahead.
He also said that police would remain in Taksim Square to preserve order.
His
arrogance is not surprising but, as it is unususal to find a serious author or
journalist (of any persuation) who hasn't been arrested at least once, maybe he
should take these massive protests more seriously.
As I
write (Sunday 2.00 p.m.) in Turkey there has been no news coverage about the
unrest. I 've just talked with a Turkish friend who implored me to write that
the demonstrations have spread to Ankara, Smyrna, Manisa, and other areas. It
is not about a small park anymore but it is an eruption of the rage the people
have been suppressing over the authoritarian policies, the religious interventions and the
political repression to which they have been subjected for too long along with
the suspicions (and long experience) of corruption.
______________________________________________
While I wrote this a Turkish friend posted this in his Facebook Page:
PLEASE SHARE IT IF U LOVE
TURKEY, IF U LOVE ISTANBUL...... EVEN IF U DON'T LIKE ME ...Extreme police violence is
everywhere in Turkey right now. Especially in Istanbul. The government is
waging a chemical war on people. Thousands of civilians are heavily injured.
People are on the streets everywhere, but it's not enough. Please spread this
message and raise awareness about the police brutality in Turkey. The
government must step back immediately. —
*From Amnesty International:
More than a hundred protesters
are reported to have been injured during police interventions. Some suffered
head injuries and at least two people had to receive emergency surgery.
Amnesty International activists
who were observing the protest were also hit with truncheons and tear gassed.
“The use of violence by police
on this scale appears designed to deny the right to peaceful protest altogether
and to discourage others from taking part” said John Dalhuisen, Director of
Europe and Central Asia Program at Amnesty International.
“The use of tear gas against
peaceful protestors and in confined spaces where it may constitute a serious
danger to health is unacceptable, breaches international human rights standards
and must be stopped immediately.”
____________________________
γρι δεν έπιασα...
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήφυσάει βοριάς εξ ανατολών...
Παρντόν akrat μου...
Διαγραφήγι αυτό και το επομενο είναι ελληνικότατο.
(Εξ άλλου... αν θυμάμαι καλά εσύ δεν έχεις πρόβλημα αποριών διότι όποτε χρειαστείς σου μεταφράζει απταίστως η Κυρία Akrat που είναι γλωσσομαθής πανεπιστήμων. Έτσι νομίζω δηλαδή..)
Καλό απόγευμα.
χαχα απίστευτο μόλις τώρα έβαλα να το μεταφράσει....
ΑπάντησηΔιαγραφήτο χαχα το λέω με δυσκολία γιατί έχασα τον καλύτερο φίλο μου σήμερα... και έχω πάρει ένα ηρεμιστικό... είμαι ζόμπυ
Ω..
Διαγραφήκι όσο μεγαλώνουμε τόσο εκτιμούμε την αξία των φίλων των πραγματικών.
Μεγάλη λύπη, σοφή ιδέα το ηρεμιστικό
κουράγιο φίλε akrat
(ελπίζω να μην την κούρασα την Κυρία Akrat ώστε να μας το ξανακάνει το χατήρι.._