Turkish Protests

[Doktor Howl]

A gameshow has been cancelled. They give a clue and the contestant must guess the word. For the past few days the puzzles have been things like "democratic breathing apparatus" the answer was "gas mask".

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

A gameshow has been cancelled. They give a clue and the contestant must guess the word. For the past few days the puzzles have been things like "democratic breathing apparatus" the answer was "gas mask".

There were 70 puzzles including:

The person who is trying to actualize his/her ideas, thoughts: CAPULCU (LOOTER which is what the Prime Minister called the protesters)
The person who does not allow freedoms to people they rule: DESPOT
A person that concentrates all political power: DICTATOR
To voluntarily give up a position: RESIGN
The person Mustafa Kemal Ataturk said should "write his/her thoughts freely:" JOURNALIST
The thing that is referred to in Article 28th of the Turkish Constitution as "Free and Cannot be Censored":PRESS
The totality of qualities that one should abide by or avoid in occupations like media: ETHICS



Full list:http://technosociology.org/?p=1297

[P3nT4gR4m]

It is very seldom that a large group of humans impresses me but this is outstanding! Faith in humanity, partially restored.

[Junkenstein]

A gameshow has been cancelled. They give a clue and the contestant must guess the word. For the past few days the puzzles have been things like "democratic breathing apparatus" the answer was "gas mask".

There were 70 puzzles including:

The person who is trying to actualize his/her ideas, thoughts: CAPULCU (LOOTER which is what the Prime Minister called the protesters)
The person who does not allow freedoms to people they rule: DESPOT
A person that concentrates all political power: DICTATOR
To voluntarily give up a position: RESIGN
The person Mustafa Kemal Ataturk said should "write his/her thoughts freely:" JOURNALIST
The thing that is referred to in Article 28th of the Turkish Constitution as "Free and Cannot be Censored":PRESS
The totality of qualities that one should abide by or avoid in occupations like media: ETHICS



Full list:http://technosociology.org/?p=1297

Those question writers need some love.That list is great!

Personal favourites:
The ability to make decisions according to correct, meaningful interpretation: COMMON SENSE
An action that means the same thing as approval: SILENCE
The state of being able to resist power or injustice but being quiet: COWARDICE
Naked power: VIOLENCE

I strongly approve of this bold new direction for gameshows.

[LMNO]

That could easily be a quite awesome crossword.

[Junkenstein]

Update:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22809430

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for protests across the country to end immediately.

At Istanbul airport he told crowds of supporters who were welcoming him home from a four-day North Africa tour that the protests bordered on illegality.

But as he spoke, thousands of anti-government protesters were also rallying in Istanbul's Taksim Square.

Speaking in Tunis earlier, Mr Erdogan acknowledged that police had used "excessive force" against activists at the original sit-in. But he said that a small group was now manipulating what had started as an environmental protest.

"Among the protesters there are extremists, some of them implicated in terrorism," he told reporters.

Mr Erdogan also defended the urban development plan for Gezi Park.

Turkey's stock market dropped nearly 5% after his remarks.

I'm beginning to think "Terrorism" will be the punchline to a lot of 22-23 century jokes.

[Cain]

To be fair, the MHP and military are implicated in terrorist acts and coup plots, and are involved in the protests.

But it is like saying that all people in the UK who want the Afghan war to end are followers of Anjem Choudry.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

To be fair, the MHP and military are implicated in terrorist acts and coup plots, and are involved in the protests.

But it is like saying that all people in the UK who want the Afghan war to end are followers of Anjem Choudry.

That's very true. Recent evidence indicates that a previous nationalist/military coup was responsible for poisoning a previous PM. The MHP is generally supported by the Kurds and has 'some' connection with the PKK, which has been responsible for much of the 'terrorism' in the southeast. The socialist political side has been tainted by connection with the group that recently set of a bomb outside the American embassy.

However, MOST of the protesters seem to be Turks protesting actual issues... Erdogan is attempting to use a very broad brush to hide legitimate concerns by legitimate protesters.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22844461

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is to meet the organisers of ongoing protests against his government on Wednesday, says his deputy.

Bulent Arinc said Mr Erdogan would "listen to their thoughts", but added that illegal protests would not be allowed.

This is going to be a productive meeting.

More than 5,000 people have been injured and three people have died since the protests began.

Mr Arinc, speaking after a long meeting between Mr Erdogan and his cabinet, said the government would follow the guidance of the courts over Gezi Park. The protesters say plans to redevelop of the park are in violation of a court ruling.

But Mr Arinc also sounded a warning.

"Illegal demonstrations will not be allowed anymore in Turkey," he said.

"All necessary actions against illegal acts will have been completed, and we will see this all together, by the weekend.''

Is this guy just trying to make sure people remember to protest at the weekend?

[Junkenstein]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/12/world/europe/disputed-square-in-istanbul-turkey.html?partner=MYWAY&ei=5065&_r=1&

Some HA HA

Huseyin Avni Mutlu, the governor of Istanbul, said in a Twitter message that the police would remove banners and posters. He said the activists who have been occupying Gezi Park for more than two weeks would not be affected.

"Gezi Park and Taksim will never be touched," he said. "This morning you are in the safe hands of your police brothers."

The police also tried to calm protesters. "Young people, please, stop hurling stones," a police officer announced over a loudspeaker. "We are not going to touch Gezi Park."

Yeah, we're totally not going to do what we have stated several times we will do regardless of protest.

Change you can believe in.

[Junkenstein]

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/lawyers-istanbul-under-attack-protest-taksim

Things are not getting any better in Turkey. At 12.30PM today – the 15th day since the Gezi Park resistance exploded into a nationwide protest against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) – lawyers congregated in Caglayan Courthouse, central Istanbul. Once inside the main hall, they issued a press statement pledging support to the social uprising and started to chant: "Everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance!" It was the third time they'd congregated there in the last two weeks, but evidently the police were operating a "three strikes and you're out" policy. Special Forces officers arrived and flooded into Caglayan, in a pre-planned swoop.

After two lawyers were mercilessly picked off and carried outside, the 100 or so remaining lawyers tried to protest by holding a sit in. At this point, the police – aided by courthouse security, and on the command of the Attorney General – began forcefully dragging people away, in some cases striking the lawyers and kicking them along the ground. A spokesperson for the Istanbul Bar Association told VICE that the number of detained lawyers was 45. This afternoon, dozens of lawyers waited outside the police station, calling for their colleagues to be released. Tomorrow, the lawyers of Istanbul will again express their support for the protesters, and workers in the legal profession will hold marches in solidarity with the uprising in cities across Turkey.

Unusual incidence of Lawyers acting like humans. Once again, Turkey impresses me.

[P3nT4gR4m]

I'd imagine that if you're a copper, one of the last people you'd want to get heavy handed with would be a lawyer

[Junkenstein]

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-06/24/turkish-protest-drone-shot-down

A civilian camera drone in Istanbul has been shot down by the police while it was monitoring the large Turkish anti-government protests.

Operated by a "drone journalist" using the Twitter handle @Jenk1907, the quadcopter was shot down a week ago over Gezi Park, the centre of the Turkish protest movement.

It had been capturing footage of the protests in the Turkish capital, and you can see some of its videos on Vimeo. According to Geek.com, the total value of the drone and camera was around $1650.

Jenk wrote under the final video it captured before being shot: "Tuesday afternoon on June 11th 2013, Police was violently attacking peaceful protestors. Police fired guns at one of our RC drone during the protests in Taksim square, Istanbul. Police aimed directly at the camera."

"Due to the impact on the camera (it did have a housing) the last video was not saved properly on the SD card. The camera and drone were both broken. Managed to keep the SD card. Here is the footage from that camera! This footage you are about to see is from the prior flights minutes before the incident."

While it's not unusual for protesters to monitor the police -- in the UK, the Forward Intelligence Teams who take photos and videos of activists are in turn photographed and recorded by " FITwatchers" -- this latest incident is probably indicative of what we all can expect from the future of social movements.

Seems important.

Edit to add - Civilian drones are rapidly getting to be quite affordable. Drone laws are going to be pain. I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more restrictive countries to effectively ban civilians from using them outright.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/lawyers-istanbul-under-attack-protest-taksim

Things are not getting any better in Turkey. At 12.30PM today – the 15th day since the Gezi Park resistance exploded into a nationwide protest against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) – lawyers congregated in Caglayan Courthouse, central Istanbul. Once inside the main hall, they issued a press statement pledging support to the social uprising and started to chant: "Everywhere is Taksim, everywhere is resistance!" It was the third time they'd congregated there in the last two weeks, but evidently the police were operating a "three strikes and you're out" policy. Special Forces officers arrived and flooded into Caglayan, in a pre-planned swoop.

After two lawyers were mercilessly picked off and carried outside, the 100 or so remaining lawyers tried to protest by holding a sit in. At this point, the police – aided by courthouse security, and on the command of the Attorney General – began forcefully dragging people away, in some cases striking the lawyers and kicking them along the ground. A spokesperson for the Istanbul Bar Association told VICE that the number of detained lawyers was 45. This afternoon, dozens of lawyers waited outside the police station, calling for their colleagues to be released. Tomorrow, the lawyers of Istanbul will again express their support for the protesters, and workers in the legal profession will hold marches in solidarity with the uprising in cities across Turkey.

Unusual incidence of Lawyers acting like humans. Once again, Turkey impresses me.

You might be surprised by how many lawyers start out as activists.

[Junkenstein]

I probably would be. I can't say I've met many. One thing this hopefully will do is create a whole bunch of activist lawyers. Or at least give more people access to them in an affordable way. Solidarity through the law, may be worth a shot.