Sunday, July 7, 2013
Saturday, July 6, 2013
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN TURKEY - please help spread the news & raise awareness for the truth
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| As run in the New York Times (6/7/13) |
There's a sad & disgusting reality to what has become of my beautiful home country due to the fascist government who's been whittling away at everyone's freedom since taking office. It started with winning elections by buying the votes of the poor communities & promising the rich ridiculous financial benefits which even the intellectual community couldn't see past. Continued with: desecrating the beauty of the country & its spirit; effectively eliminating the military checks & balances that had been put in place by the incomparable revolutionary mind of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk for the better of the people to help protect from exactly what's going on now; throwing current & former military officers [most who served their country & people their entire adult lives] & journalists in jail under false pretenses & BS accusations; putting its own religious zealots into power positions in the judicial system as well as the police corps; striking deals with corporations owned by those in its inner circle; and buying out the media for its own propaganda. And now this - literally FIGHTING unarmed civilians who have been standing up for what they believe in peaceful protests across the nation. I'm beyond saddened for the state of my home, my parents' home, my grandparents' home, my family's home & for its remarkable people. Power-hungry & corrupt religious extremists have made it what you see today in the news. Equating Erdoğan to Hitler is not an understatement in the least - the man has used the same powers of manipulation & persuasion to take over the minds of a number of its constituents & rules with an iron fist. He basically believes it's his way or no way at all & refuses to listen to the majority of the population. He now taunts the protestors, calling them liars, hooligans & looters. He's doing whatever he can to incite a civil war & to provoke the peaceful protestors toward violence. He's lying & manipulating the press by limiting the violence in areas where the international media is now present while ramping it up in other cities in the nation. I hope that these horrific scenes will truly lead to the start of a necessary & overdue revolution to push out the AK Party [AKP] & bring true democracy back to my beloved Türkiye.
THIS STARTED WITH A PARK & SOME TREES BUT THAT IS NO LONGER. IT'S ABOUT A COUNTRY'S RIGHT TO THEIR DEMOCRACY, FREEDOM OF SPEECH, & FREEDOM TO EXPRESS THEIR OPINIONS WITHOUT FEAR OF BEING BRUTALLY BEATEN OR KILLED.
Please help me spread the word - the true colors of the Turkish government are finally coming out & most of the international world is still not fully aware of the ongoing travesties and reasons behind it. My family & friends have been pepper sprayed & tear gassed - I'm fortunate that I haven't had anything worse happen to those in my circle. Others are not so lucky. In addition to keeping the media within Turkey from covering what's happening, the government is blocking civilian access to FB & Twitter to try to stop the truth from coming out. They're now even starting to arrest citizens who tweet dissenting messages - Erdoğan has actually called Twitter & social media the biggest trouble in society today [primarily because it's a worldwide medium he can't yet manipulate or buy out]. The international community is more important than ever. It's not only dire for me & my immediate & extended families - ultimately the continued Islamic extremism & corrupted, dictatorial leadership in Turkey will significantly affect the rest of the world in a negative manner as it's a key strategic military hub [especially in that region]. Only a matter of time before the government flips that power into the wrong people's hands.
Below are articles, video, images, & commentary that I feel are significant
to share. I've also added a handful of my Turkish friends who live both in & out of Turkey to help share their accounts, stories, articles, etc. Hopefully this will prove a useful tool for everyone to help get the truth out to the world. Again, please help me spread the word. It's direly important.
Capturing Occupy Gezi
An incredible (mostly) daily account of the happenings in Istanbul along with some stunning photography. Highly recommend.
Ways to help/get involved
What can I do for Turkey?
http://whatcanidoforturkey.blogspot.com/List of Gezi protests around the world & corresponding Gezi-related city pages
http://geziaroundtheworld.tumblr.com/Sign the White House petition: Condemn actions taken against peaceful protesters in Turkey
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/condemn-actions-taken-against-peaceful-protesters-istanbul-turkey/zDGtGCDZDonate to Amnesty International to support their work to protect civil rights in Turkey
https://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/site/c.6oJCLQPAJiJUG/b.8645903/k.FD12/Donate_Now_dev_copy/apps/ka/sd/donorcustom.asp?msource=W1306EDCPR1Sign the petition asking CNN to revoke CNN Türk's franchise rights:
http://www.change.org/petitions/cnn-international-must-pull-its-name-franchise-from-cnn-turk?share_id=sDaBloBlrH&utm_campaign=friend_inviter_chat&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=permissions_dialog_falseSign the petition asking BBC to stop its partnership with Turkey's biased NTV:
http://www.change.org/petitions/bbc-please-stop-your-partnership-with-biased-ntv-news-in-turkeyAmnesty USA: Urgent action memo
http://www.scribd.com/doc/146378354/Amnesty-USA-Urgent-Action-June-7-2013Amnesty International: Take action
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=6oJCLQPAJiJUG&b=6645049&aid=519905&msource=W1306EACPR1Amnesty International: What you can do NOW to stop the abuse of protestors in Turkey
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/europe/what-you-can-do-now-to-stop-the-abuse-of-protestors-in-turkey/Sign the petition asking the General Director of Cultural Property & Museums to preserve Taksim Gezi Park as a modern civic landmark & monument
https://www.change.org/petitions/preserve-taksim-gezi-park-as-a-modern-civic-landmark-and-monument?utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petitionSign the petition to stop placing tear gas in the hands of Turkish riot police
http://www.causes.com/stop-export-tear-gas-to-Turkey
Show Discontent: A record of Taksim Gezi Park protest meetings [by Twitter user @showdiscontent]
Lots of powerful images along with commentary recapping the daily events to date
http://showdiscontent.com/
http://showdiscontent.com/
Facebook groups in support of #occupygezi #occupyturkey #direntürkiye #direngeziparki #resistanbul #istandbul #duranadam #durankadin #chapullers
International support for Occupy Gezi Park - Istanbul!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/584597698237686/Diren Gezi Parki, diren Türkiyem
https://www.facebook.com/groups/468940769852536/Türkiye tek tek yürek (Gezi Parki için)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/274484369363992/Occupy Gezi
https://www.facebook.com/groups/340630419399084/Resistanbul. The world supports the Turkish Spring.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/resistanbul/?fref=tsOccupy Turkey
https://www.facebook.com/groups/379013522139267/Diren Türkiye
https://www.facebook.com/groups/469628103119594/Chapullers
https://www.facebook.com/ChapullersDuran Adam
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Duranadam/132208246945192Chapulling
https://www.facebook.com/chapullings
Friday, July 5, 2013
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
The Tower: The Gezi Diaries - can we still call Turkey civilized? Some see it as a modern democracy with an Islamic tint, an improving, reforming country. But if you were in Istanbul during the last month and a half, you’d have seen something completely different: a violent, authoritarian, increasingly suppressive and brutal regime. Tales from the Dark Side, Turkish style. [by Claire Berlanski]
An incredibly pointed & very truthful account of the Turkish protests (aka police riots) by an American novelist & journalist who lives there. A little long, but an absolute must-read if you'd like to understand what's been happening and how the rest of the world plays a part.
http://www.thetower.org/article/the-gezi-diaries-erdogans-turkey-goes-medieval/
http://www.thetower.org/article/the-gezi-diaries-erdogans-turkey-goes-medieval/
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