As the Erdogan government in Turkey takes an increasingly authoritarian turn, trade unionists have been in the firing line. But a mass trial in Istanbul, little noticed by the international media, has not gone entirely the government’s way.
The Gezi park protests of June 2013 drew the attention of the world to a very urban conflict in Turkey's most populous city. Less covered, were the various micro-conflicts behind the scenes which led to eruption at Gezi.
The drive to reclaim a people's right to their city led to the revival of Turkish civic identity and highlighted the growing importance of social capital. Why did it take so long for Turkey?
Members of resistance movements from Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia come together on Gezi Radyo to compare experiences, discuss ways to cooperate and debate how to build a better future.
Turkey's urban citizens are standing up against authoritarian governance, and for their right to the city, their right to difference, and their right to resist the top-down imposition of moral and spatial orders.
The simmering dissent and dissatisfaction unleashed at Gezi Park may not be enough to topple AKP's majority, but it threatens their political agenda as well as Turkey's democratic consolidation.
Whether or not the protestors currently occupying Istanbul's Taksim square can evolve into an effective, open and progressive opposition to the AKP's authoritarian neoliberal regime, remains to be seen. But one thing is clear, this is only the beginning.
Increasing monopolisation of power, patriarchal approach to government and a feeling of disenfranchisement by a significant portion of society in the absence of proper public deliberation and dialogue on a number of critical issues have caused massive public outrage. An open letter from five conce
