Headline: Gezi park Update
Our colleagues in Turkey who are still in Gezi Park sent us this update.
Political Situation
For the moment the AKP administration in Turkey is losing support with their heavy-handed approach to dealing with public opposition.
The Prime Minister will tour three cities in Turkey to fix his public image before the upcoming March 2014 election, the beginning of which is Mersin today.
With such a public backlash, they are having meetings and counter-protests but in reality they have to resort to bussing people from surrounding provinces and calling locals with text messages.The situation in Istanbul is accelerating on a promising path as the Taksim Solidarity media team decided to promote embracing sustainability and an environmentalist economy.
The Gezi resistance has become more than a symbol or a meeting point, their long-term exit strategy from the park includes tackling socioeconomic issues with an environmentalist image, giving Greenpeace plenty of opportunity to multiply our communication channels and engage a new audience.
This is not the Turkish Woodstock, nor a massive love-in. This is Occupy 2.0, where technology, social media, humour and non-violence overcome violence and media auto-censorship to create a sense of solidarity for people from all walks of life.
We’re still in the short-term however, and there is still the looming threat of police violence. Our current strategy is to create a contrast between the potential future police attack by pushing the peaceful, progressive vibe in the park. If they don’t attack, we’re still ahead with having shown the public embracing the principles of peaceful protest.
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