PROTECT & RESIST
We are taking a pause this week to raise awareness about what’s happening in Turkey. I made this political comic, with some hope of doing so. Please Share this. So, let’s see what’s happening!
I first heard about this a week or so ago, with my niece tweeting that they need a doctor at a certain cross street, and RTing about how the police is blocking ambulances to go into the neighborhood, and people are getting injured and gassed. Apparently, all Turkish media is full of assholes, and they are bought by the government. During the Riots, CNN Turkey was airing a documentary about Penguins. Are you kidding me? This became an instant meme, and a symbol of the revolution as such:
The whole thing is a mess. It started as a small, environmentalist protest of government’s plans to demolish a park to build a mall. Have you seen that movie? Right? Yet, the police ended up burning the tents of the protesters while they’re sleeping, and it kept escalating from then on. Now, the entire country is in uprising. Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara, all the major city streets are filled with people, protecting their land, and resisting the fascist goverment of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. I knew he was an asshole, and mentioned him in Page 4.14 a while back. Anyway, I am angry. I wish I was back home, protecting Gezi. Yet, for now, all I can do is what I do best. Make art, and post about it.
Let’s quote some websites: PolicyMic
The protests began with a peaceful demonstration against government plans to demolish Gezi Park in Taksim Square, the last significant green space in central Istanbul, and replace it with a “replica Ottoman-era army barracks that would house a shopping mall.” Police attacked the Occupy-style protesters camping out in the park with tear gas during a dawn raid, barricaded the park, and in a later raid set fire to some of the tents. According to Mashallah News, “Friday morning saw the most aggressive use of force yet, with police using water cannons and excessive force in an attempt to clear the park of people delivering speeches, chanting, singing, and preparing camps.” The Turkish Doctors’ Association reports that almost 1,000 people were injured in Istanbul on Friday, including six who lost eyes after being hit by tear-gas canisters.
You can read the rest over there. I’ve been following @OccupyGeziNews, it seems to be the best source of information. This entire Revolution is being tweeted, and there is no mainstream media coverage.
VICE magazine has an amazing Documentary shot on the scene, please watch and share that also, and watch it right here:
Thank you for reading. We will continue SPINE next week. Remember, 4 more pages.
I hope all is well with your family Spine. There is a lot of this going around lately, and you would think they’d realize that mummifying the news wouldn’t stop their heinousness from getting out. Seems a terribly excessive reaction to a peaceful protest – for sure.
Thank you Tigershark. They are fine for now. Twitter turned out to be a great tool for revolution. Who would’ve thought? It’s been going on almost a month now.
I guess this Erdogan character doesn’t care about his image abroad, but it’s obvious how someone who censors media always has something to hide. It’s as if he’s standing naked in the square with everyone looking, and instead of standing tall and proud, he’s trying to cover himself, because he knows that he has nothing to be proud over.
You nailed it.
He has been sitting on the Priminister Chair for so long, he thinks he’s an Ottoman Sultan. Gezi Park was the last straw. What’s amazing to me is that people are not stopping. This isn’t just some wave that will blow over. Change will come to Turkey, good or bad.
We shall see.
I’ve been following this as well for a week or so, too. Really the thing that immediately came to mind was, how Erdo’ and company had so villified Assad, and now here they are, doing moer or less the same thing.
Granted, they didn’t start out by gunning down children in peaceful protest (thankfully) so it’s on a smaller scale (so far) – but the fact remains that they’re still complete hypocrites.
Anyways, good luck and fate shelter you and yours in fighting the good fight.
Yes, and while things were happening in Egypt and Syria, Erdogan would those governments to “listen to their people.”
He should really listen to his own advice. They’re tear gassing woman and children. Countless people are going blind.
And we are doing it to each other. It’s really sad how violent it is. Where does this hatred come from? I don’t understand.
I don’t think I’d call it hatred – seems to me this is more anger and frustration than anything else. The Kurds… maybe that was hatred, but I know too little to say. This? Well to borrow a quote from a classic film…
“We’re sick, and tired, and we’re NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE.”
Pretty sure I misquoted it, but there ye go.
I was thinking hatred from the police and Tayyip. To do the kind of senseless violence, you need to be full hate, or psychopathic.
“Following orders” is no excuse. People are arresting doctors, trapping women, and children in tear gas clouds. Gassing the metro station, and shooting gas into houses. It is very sinister.
The police will have to live with themselves once its all over. That will be hard on them.
Great insight. I’ve been watching these protests with mounting horror. I firmly believe that we must protest evil whenever and wherever we can, I’ve attended more than I can count. The nightmare overreaction of the government to these peaceful protests are absolutely sickening.
Thank you. I keep updating people on my twitter. That’s the best thing we can do right now. Raising awareness, as the Turkish people resist.