[Archived] Istanbul - please help- media blackout out here

[Glenn]

This pic from Ankara tonight

doesn't half remind me of this (the crowd bits, not the Natalie Portman bits)

[diziet2]

Some of the fun things coming out from the protests. People are no longer afraid and are taking the @#/?

www.buzzfeed.com/lemoustache/25-examples-of-the-best-street-humour-from-istanbu-b7x9

THe whole place has turned into a mini-town/city. shops, bookshops, a creshe, medical services everything has been setup in Gezipark. Everyday I go and it has grown again. Truly amazing.


At the moment the government has said that the protesters have until monday to move out. so there is peace and fun at the moment. This whole thing is just like a free Glastonbury festival at the moment.

However it can't last at some point, Sunday night or Monday the government is going to have to do something. Today I might go and enjoy the last days of the free festival and drink some beers in the sun.

Thank god he seemed to settle down from the stupid statement he made on the friday evening. I really thought he was going to send the police in and lees to chaos breaking out. alas it is only delayed at the moment.

[Guest Norbert]

I am a firm beliver that tyranny fears and hates humour. If you laugh at the dictator and their regime, you lose the fear. Hence why so many countries from Nazi Germany, to the USSR, to North Korea send so many stirists, cartoonists and speakers to their labour camps. So what the Turks are doing in that link are good responses.

[diziet2]

Taksim protests lastnight.. 100,000 - 200,000 people?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yZMqrpyLrs

[chris_h]

Taksim protests lastnight.. 100,000 - 200,000 people?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yZMqrpyLrs

Well, it certainly beats a Saturday night in Adelaide.

It was good to see portraits of Attaturk amongst the crowd in some of your videos. I'm no historian and I know there were some disturbing policies to the Armenians but anyone who instigates a modern, liberal(ish), secular republic has to be a positive hero figure for Turks.

[diziet2]

footballs effect on these protests

news.sky.com/story/1101182/turkey-football-fans-call-for-pm-to-resign

Watch the video, I walked with the Besiktas fans. I am busy today but if I get a chance later I will try to upload a video of the march. Zupa means 'bounce'

Things will heat up tonight and tomorrow. The next move For tayyıp has to be to call his own supporters onto the streets. Then it will get tasty.

[diziet2]

a great report by the bbc. Take a look and these are the people erdogan is calling terrorists, extremists and looters... They are a bunch of hippies...

I love the irony though that this fasinating popup city exists because the football crews won the battle with the police.... strange days

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22848115

The danger is though with the press in his back pocket half the population are swallowing the lie that this is being caused by outside agents from other countries that want to harm Turkey and that the protesters are just archaists and extremists.

this is the effect of a media that would not report anything for 5 days about the riots and now only pushing the pro-goernment side of it. social media is so important once again!

Thanks to the admins for allowing me to continue to post updates. It is important to get what is actually happening here out there. Big thanks from Istanbul!

[cn174]

ben - good link. love how quickly all the little shops and that seem to have popped up!

i've got to ask - what are you doing in istanbul anyway? you got family there?

[diziet2]

ben - good link. love how quickly all the little shops and that seem to have popped up!

i've got to ask - what are you doing in istanbul anyway? you got family there?

I live and work out here.

[diziet2]

here is my tour of the Gezi park and taksim/make-shift 'city in a city'. Nicely times is and interactive map provided by the bbc

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22795193

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wrqdF1j1vo

so much for terrorists and looters.

[diziet2]

police go to take taksin this morning. Heavy tear gas and many police.

Live feed to see what is going on

webtv.hurriyet.com.tr/hurriyettv-canli-yayin.aspx

[diziet2]

The turkish government is playing a very slick game today.

There has not been any TV cameras up at Taksim. Suddenly this morning all the Camera crews from the state-suuporting tv stations arrive. THe police then clear the Taksim Square only and gently. Suddenly the police are attacked with Molotov cocktails (where did they suddenly appear from, Yet the police are shown not reacting at all, Being very kind and careful.

The mayor of Istanbul is suddenly saying that the police will not move into the park area. All they are doig is clearing the square and the staue of the great ataturk of banners etc. Yet they leave a great banner of ataturk.

All to paint a picture of 1: Police are the victims 2: they are respectful of the gezi park protest. 3: there is no great uprising it is just extemists and kurdish nationalists (throwing petrol bombs) 4: the government are the true turks and sons of Ataturk, not the protesters ( Ataturk represents the secular ideas).

In reality: The police have now removed all the barriers, They are camped right next to Gezi. THey will be able to control access into the square and they hope that by the softwords used people are not going to march.

After a few days they will extract their revenge on Gezi park protesters.

The narrative they paint is for the international media and their core support in the east. I.e. it was nothing just a bunch of extremists.

The question now comes down to... 'will the general public march on Taksim tonight?

[diziet2]

It has started.

Didn't even wait a day.

Has attacked lawyers in the courthouse supporting the legal status of the protest and has now teargassed the park. Police advancing on thousands of protesters in the park.

Dangerous times.

Just 2 hours ago the mayor of Istanbul said the park would not be entered by the police. Complete blatant lies!

[diziet2]

all tv cameras now gone as the police attack the gezi park protesters! Shocking use of media.

Calls are out on twitter for local people to open their windows and take pictures and distribute them.

Crazy! This guy is crazy. I have asked my colleges who I work with. Older ladies in my office 50s,40, and mid 30,s .... 'what will he do if a million march on taksin? ... answer .... He will probably shoot people! and they are not joking!

[Guest Norbert]

Sounds like the 3 election wins has gone to the Prime Minister's head and he thinks he can act like Putin or some other semi-dictator. I always wondered how an Islamist party would fit in an actively secular society and political system. Now he is being a typical Islamist ruler by manipulating the press whilst sending in the riot police to batter people.

[diziet2]

A hairy day yesterday. I was over Taksim for about 5 hours. I am just uploading the video now.

In the meantime check this nonsense out:

----------------------------------

The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has fined a number of channels, including Halk TV, for "harming the physical, moral and mental development of children and young people" by broadcasting coverage of the Gezi Park protests.

Ulusal TV, Cem TV and EM TV were also among the fined networks.

Halk TV, in particular, has gained unexpected popularity over its 24-hour live streaming of events around Istanbul, at a time when many mainstream media outlets gave little coverage to the ongoing protests.

---------------------

That is like ofcom fining sky news or ITN for carrying a 24hour rolling news coverage of the most important events in the country. Barmy, and show the censorship that the press is under!

Gas was proper bad last night. Never seen anything like it. something out of apocalypse now...

[diziet2]

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[diziet2]

Things are getting very hot here. I will take the videos down in 24 hours as I really don't fancy a knock on the door from the special services.

CNN international that was broadcasting live has been cut too.

[Guest Norbert]

Could it lapse into some sort of Egyptian style 'civil war'? The PM is really starting to act like some tinpot Arab bully.

[mhead]

After working in Yesilkoy,Istanbul for a year and then in Anatolia during 2011 my knowledge of Turkish society is very strong and its a divided Country - with Istanbul,Izmir and Ankara quite different than the rest of Turkey.

Take care Ben this is part of the inevitable 'westernisation' that happens to dynamic Countries when they become economically powerful. China will be next within 10 years and then the whole set of dominoes will go.

Just do not let them say you are all extremists....its just that Istanbul is so big you can express things they cannot say in Samsun,Adana,Mersin and Kocaeli etc.

The modernisation of Islam hopefully will then affect even places like Blackburn where the Asian Brits live in a culture less modern than Islamabad and Turkey.

Good Luck this week on the inevitable path to a better democracy!

[diziet2]

After working in Yesilkoy,Istanbul for a year and then in Anatolia during 2011 my knowledge of Turkish society is very strong and its a divided Country - with Istanbul,Izmir and Ankara quite different than the rest of Turkey.

Take care Ben this is part of the inevitable 'westernisation' that happens to dynamic Countries when they become economically powerful. China will be next within 10 years and then the whole set of dominoes will go.

Just do not let them say you are all extremists....its just that Istanbul is so big you can express things they cannot say in Samsun,Adana,Mersin and Kocaeli etc.

The modernisation of Islam hopefully will then affect even places like Blackburn where the Asian Brits live in a culture less modern than Islamabad and Turkey.

Good Luck this week on the inevitable path to a better democracy!

I disagree this is the end of a long term plan by Tayyip to assume all executive power. Remove all opposition to a one party state and place him at the centre of this power. A dictator and that is what Turkey is now heading for.

He did not expect Gezi park to be the kick off for the final resistance from the opposition powers. However if he wins this then Turkey will be a dictatorship.

There are elections next year. With no opposition ( he has had 3 opposition parties raided in the last few days) present as he will probably ban them, the eelctions would be meaningless.

The result would be an isamised dictatorship looking like a softer version of Iran. Alothough sunni, Tayyip dreams of reviving the old islamised ottoman empire and having himself as the new sultan.

[diziet2]

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[davulsukur]

http://www.brfcs.com/mb/index.php/page/contact-us

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[diziet2]

things I think are going to get even nastier soon. Erdogan has given orders to the minister of the interior (the home secretary) and says this will be over in 24 hours.

Now I know what the people are like in the middle of the park. there is no way they will leave. some will be chained to trees etc. This is going to have horrific amounts of tear gas and violence and quite possibly the police will shoot dead some protesters.

[diziet2]

http://www.dha.com.tr/canli-yayin-2/

live stream of taksim/gezi park .... 1000's of protesters there.