Protesters gathered in Taksim Square this evening to commemorate the three protesters and one police man who lost their lives in the past few weeks during the unrest in Istanbul. They brought red carnations to lay on the stairs leading up to Gezi Park. There were no banners and no flags that betrayed any political affiliation: only "Taksim Solidarity" flags. The crowd was eventually dispersed using water cannon, but no tear gas was used at that time. Later, there were reports of tear gas and rubber bullets in Cihangir. Many innocent bystanders were caught in the violence.
Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. I will try to keep more on top of it.
DeleteWow, you got this up quick. I appreciate that as I wondered what had happened there. My friend said she had gone out wearing platform shoes and was tear-gassed and had had a hard time getting away from it.
ReplyDeleteI was on Buyukada where there was a standing person event for one hour in front of the clock tower, also with the names of the dead, candles, and a heart made of carnations in memorial. Maybe 50 people stood the whole hour. When nine p.m. came the restaurants full of diners clapped for them, and then started making noise with their cutlery on their plates.
This has been an interesting, and powerful, development: the visual imagery that the protesters are now using is clean and unobstructed by the clutter of political party flags. Thank you for sharing your story.
DeleteThat's wonderful. So glad you told us about this, Karen. Fantastic!
DeleteAgreed!
DeleteI can assure you there was tear gas when the police started advancing down Istiklal because I was there.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing and keep spreading the word! The international media did not really got on this story, so it's up to us.
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