Why “Diren Gezi Park! Occupy Gezi!”?

I decide to give general information about the resistance in Taksim Gezi Park, as many of my friends are asking me for deeper background information.

Short History

In Istanbul many environmentalist groups, human rights defenders and civil society organisations are trying to protect the only park in the city centre more than two years. The project was introduced by the Prime Minister of Turkey two weeks before the elections in 2011. After the declaration of the Prime Minister, The Istanbul Municipal Council accepted a project to change the only park in the centre of Istanbul into a shopping mall looking like the military barracks called Topçu Kışlası that was built in 1830 and demolished in 1940 by January 2012. In the making the project there was no democratic process to include any ideas of the civil society and the citizens of Istanbul.

Then Turkish Architects Chamber and other civil society organisations asked the Cultural Heritage Protection Committee to decide about Taksim Gezi Park by 5th February 2012.  

The citizens of Istanbul started the demonstrations to protect Gezi Park by 12th February 2012.  By March 2012, the citizens and more than 70 civil society organisations formed a coalition called “Taksim Dayanışması / Taksim Solidarity”.

Taksim Dayanışması also made public demonstration after the government opened a tender call for the construction of the new project. The Coalition demanded the government to save a public heritage as Gezi Park and Taksim Square is the essential social, cultural, historical witness of last 70 years of Republic of Turkey. The Coalition insisted on the democratical universal participative process should be exercised about a change of this kind of important matter. The Coalition underlined the importance of Gezi Park, as it is the only space in Taksim area to gather in emergency situations such as earthquake. The ecological and historical importance of the park is also very important.

The business owners made a public statement about Gezi Park, as they started to receive orders to leave the park that declaring them illegal.

Another citizens’ initiative called Taksim Platform gave a public statement on the developments of the project, they asked how it is possible to start the construction without the approval of Cultural Heritage Protection Committee. Taksim Dayanışması organised a sit-in in Taksim Square on 24th November 2012. Taksim Dayanışma submitted petition to save Taksim Gezi Park signed 50 thousand citizens to the government on 18th December 2013.

Istanbul Cultural Heritage Protection Committee actually decided to keep the centre without planned shopping mall project on 16th January 2013. Despite of the decision of Istanbul Cultural Heritage Protection Committee to stop the execution of the project on 16th January 2013, the government decided go on with the works unfortunately.

Taksim Dayanışması organised a press conference on 25th January 2013, and expressed their concerns about Taksim Gezi Park.

Prime Minister declared that “decision of the Committee is not important for me and we reject the rejection of the committee, the project to build a shopping mall and hotel in the area of the park will continue” on 4th February 2013. After this declaration the historical pedestrian bridge of Taksim Gezi Park was demolished on 11th February 2013.

After the declaration by the prime minister, on 28th February 2013 Higher Cultural Heritage Committee gave a decision against Istanbul Cultural Heritage Committee just as it was declared so. Majority of Higher Committee was made of ministerial officers and managers instead of independent experts.

On 15th March 2013, the Coalition founded Taksim Gezi Park Protection and Beautification Association and the Assocation organised a festival on 13th April 2013 with attendance of more than 20 thousand people.

In addition there were other attempts to save Gezi Park such as collecting 100 thousand more signatures and organising meditation/yoga gathering on 22nd April 2013.

Because of this process I tried to summarise above, the issue of Taksim Gezi Park became a symbol of participative democracy, rule of law and human rights in Turkey as the government wants to dictate its decisions fiercely. That is why many activists are calling the government to listen to its citizens and take into consideration of the public demands in decision making processes, as there are no signs to maintain a participative democracy in Turkey and the problems about different human rights and democracy issues are growing more and more especially in the last 3 years. The citizens of Turkey are worried about the future of Turkey and do not want to be ruled by the tyranny of the parliamentary majority.

I will go on describing the events of the last 8 days in another post.

~~~~~~ Living a life of my own... ... *^"#+&*