Saturday 1 June 2013

Inevitable riots

I'm amazed and impressed by those standing up to the government in Turkey, right now. Marching across the bridge in defiance of public transport bans. Fighting for what they believe. 

This has been coming for a while, the tension between the public and the increasingly authoritarian government finally reaching breaking point.

Updated photos at here show the extent of the violence. The news is not being particularly well documented by the Turkish media.

Below, on a slightly separate note, is a picture of the police reacting to some incredibly mild-mannered protests outside our office several months ago. A small group of about 15 well-behaved, middle aged workers were marching in protest of job cuts. The authorities felt it was necessary to send hundreds of tear-gas-wielding riot police to mow them down using a water cannon and staged attacks. 

When I showed this to my Turkish friends, they were not at all surprised.


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