Turkey says: Yes to Democracy, No to violence

The Gezi Park incidents began in Taksim Square of Istanbul on May 27th. 

In Taksim Gezi Park, one wall on the side of the Divan Hotel was destroyed and several trees were uprooted and construction equipment entered the park. Some environmentalist organizations announced that there was destruction going on in Gezi Park, so a group of 50 people were gathered to prevent this demolition. They held up banners saying ‘We are on watch for Gezi Park,’ and ‘We are not giving away our Park’. Everything started in an innocent attempt to protect the beautiful park in Taksim. 

Then in social media – especially in Twitter – people made their voices heard and the people who heard about this gathering started to send tweets and proceeded down to Taksim to stand with the environmentalist protestors. 

When citizens started protesting against this destruction, the construction crews stopped their work and left the park. 

Then on May 28th, Istanbul Municipality made a declaration that the trees were not being cut down but would be taken to another location to widen the pedestrian areas in Taksim and the immediate area; nonetheless, the number of protestors kept growing. 

On May 30th, the incidents gained pace and police interfered in a very severe way with water cannon and tear gas and the small environmental protest that began in Istanbul spread to many other cities of Turkey. Police interference and allegations of excessive use of force against the protestors drew hostile reactions from all over Turkey and abroad so the police withdrew from Gezi Park. 

On May 31st, the Court decided to stop the Topçu Kışlası project in Taksim that caused the protests. 

Some protestors attacked the police and some violence took place in several parts of the country that served to further increase tensions.

The Mayor of Istanbul made a self-critical statement that the municipal authorities should have informed the citizens beforehand and in more a detailed way; they should have made it more clear that the green space in Taksim was being moved to another location within the city, and that they had no intention of destroying public parks in the name of development. 

Turkey is, after all, a democratic country and the citizens have a right to protest with which they do not agree. Yet, claiming power by attacking others is unacceptable whatsoever. In a democracy, disagreements can be solved within the frame of democracy, i.e. through dialogue and negotiation, not through violence. 

There are some provocateurs who infiltrated the peaceful protestors and have essentially hijacked a protest against urban development and are attempting to turn it into a street referendum on Prime Minister Erdogan’s government. The people of Turkey should not fall into this trap: The people of Turkey are calm, honest and sincere. They are well aware of their rights in our democracy and they make every attempt to express themselves without violating the rights of others. The aim of some of these protestors we see now is, quite simply, to overturn the will of the Turkish people, who recently returned PM Erdogan and the AKP to power with a broad majority. This is not democratic; it is the law of the streets. 

There was violence on both sides, from the police and from the protestors as well. This is also unacceptable in a democratic society. Throwing paving stones – and swinging wildly at people in the street with truncheons – is hardly becoming to Turkey. The international media picked this up, and created the impression that Turkey was some tin-horn dictatorial state; nothing could be further from the truth. The Deputy PM apologized for the excessive force that was used, and President of the Republic Abdullah Gul praised the peaceful protestors for expressing their democratic rights [1]; in so doing, they displayed much wisdom in attempting to defuse the situation and bringing about a return to a calmer atmosphere in the public arena. 

Still, I believe that these incidents show that there is a developing democracy in Turkey. When we compare the current times with the previous epochs, we can clearly see that there has been great strides taken where democracy is concerned. Every citizen has freedom of speech and freedom of thought no matter what ideas they possess, be they atheists, communists or the deeply religious. 

The human soul always seeks freedom. To have a good, high quality life, he should not be living in a state of fear or turmoil. When freedom prevails, living standards and the power of consumption of the people increase proportionally. 

It is good for our citizens and people all over the world to make peaceful protests that will not lead to any violence; the redress of legitimate grievances and healthy debate is good for democracy. 

I seek mercy from God for those people who lost their lives in these incidents and pray for the well-being of the injured ones. 

Now, the next phase will commence. The Government has apologized to the citizens and the environmental organizations have given their list of demands to the Prime Ministry and they are now on the table to negotiate; this is a good sign of improving democracy. 

And everyone must listen to what our President Gul had to say regarding these incidents: “Democracy is not just about elections. If there are objections, there is nothing more natural than voicing them. “Everyone should show restraint. All the messages with good intentions were received, and what is necessary will be done.’’ He also stated that Turkey is an open society. And he also warned Turkish citizens of the threat of illegal organizations taking over the protests, saying ‘Illegal organizations may attempt to intervene from now on. Turkey’s democracy has been tested; it is now time to remain calm.”[2]

We should never again fall into the trap of negative reports of provocateurs using the mainstream media or social media. On the contrary, we should unite more strongly when others are attempting to show that we are weak. We should be united like well-built walls and never let anyone damage our democracy, our freedom of thought and our freedom of expression. 

It is not hard to imagine what kind of youth will emerge when there is full democracy and no pressure from any side. There will be beautiful green parks, with waterfalls, where doves land to drink water. The youth will be extremely modern and elegant, having a strong personality, able to discuss everything in a democratic way. When they know that every problem can be solved within democracy, then no one will resort to violence. 

So, we should all chant ‘Yes to democracy, no to violence.’

Footnotes:
1 – http://beta.dawn.com/news/1016042/turkish-govt-offers-apology-as-protests-continue
2- http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/democracy-is-not-just-about-elections-says-turkish-president.aspx?pageID=238&nID=48100&NewsCatID=338

Published at: http://www.natunbarta.com/english/opinion/2013/06/07/4822