Turkey, protests against the prime minister and the government
polycounter lvl 18
Hello people of polycount,
This is not related to games nor art. If this gets deleted I won't open a new thread about this. I'm writing just to let you know for I know this is a humane community of people who love to absorb information from around the world.
As many of you already know, there are protests in Turkey, my country, against the current government and their oppressive/harmful policies which affect all areas of our lives.
The government has their roots deep in fundamentalism and they are also mostly hand-picked, cheap and shallow people who would do anything to get more power/money. Destroying natural areas, incredibly high tax rates, rigged elections, prisoned journalists, oppressed minorities, you name it. The rest of the government senators lack the courage to vote anything down in the parliament. The government party also constitutes the majority of the parliament. Thus, they can pass whatever law they want almost instantly. Then the laws get inspected by the president(who is supposed to be independent from the government). But guess what, he was also a member of the government party before getting elected as the president of the republic.
So, we are protesting and as you can guess, we are confronted with badly educated, violent police forces. Shooting gas canisters directly at people(many people have lost one eye since the protests began, some got killed by the police), driving their vehicles into protesting crowds, beating un-armed, civilian protesters with police/protester ratios up to 20 to 1.
It gets worse because the prime minister approaches the protests like a dictator. He claimed that he can and will do whatever he wants to do. He is doing all he can to provoke the protesters and a short period of time after his first reactions to the protests, he left the country. He went for a north Africa trip only to get rejected by many politicians and business people because of his attitude against the citizens.
If you would like a more detailed report of the current situation, you can watch the Young Turks video:
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcT6-0Cz-RI"]PM Of Turkey Blames Protests On... - YouTube[/ame]
If you like CNN better:
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptfuwpbxJfE"]CNN International - Protests Spread in Turkey - GeziPark Istanbul - Taksim - YouTube[/ame]
Also, I'm posting the videos and photos I shot like many other people. Normally, I'd be scared to even go there but it is more difficult to stay home when these are taking place. We also learned how to deal with tear gas, it's like a class-based multiplayer game. We have some "throwers" who throw back the gas bombs, some build barricades so the crowds can gather behind them, there are healers who spray proper medicine solutions into your eyes, more experienced folks are there to even save you when you shout "I can't open my eyes!"/"I can't walk.". Finally, some folks like me shoot videos. Here are the videos/photos I shot:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ADtH-fWsMM_Sji7M47rcw
This is one of the more descriptive videos I shot(3:26 was probably the most scary time of my life):
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80kG7LHqP9U"]03.06.2013 15:30 - 16:30 K?z?lay Ankara - YouTube[/ame]
Thanks for reading/watching. People are shouting "Government, resign!" as I'm typing these words in the next street.
This is not related to games nor art. If this gets deleted I won't open a new thread about this. I'm writing just to let you know for I know this is a humane community of people who love to absorb information from around the world.
As many of you already know, there are protests in Turkey, my country, against the current government and their oppressive/harmful policies which affect all areas of our lives.
The government has their roots deep in fundamentalism and they are also mostly hand-picked, cheap and shallow people who would do anything to get more power/money. Destroying natural areas, incredibly high tax rates, rigged elections, prisoned journalists, oppressed minorities, you name it. The rest of the government senators lack the courage to vote anything down in the parliament. The government party also constitutes the majority of the parliament. Thus, they can pass whatever law they want almost instantly. Then the laws get inspected by the president(who is supposed to be independent from the government). But guess what, he was also a member of the government party before getting elected as the president of the republic.
So, we are protesting and as you can guess, we are confronted with badly educated, violent police forces. Shooting gas canisters directly at people(many people have lost one eye since the protests began, some got killed by the police), driving their vehicles into protesting crowds, beating un-armed, civilian protesters with police/protester ratios up to 20 to 1.
It gets worse because the prime minister approaches the protests like a dictator. He claimed that he can and will do whatever he wants to do. He is doing all he can to provoke the protesters and a short period of time after his first reactions to the protests, he left the country. He went for a north Africa trip only to get rejected by many politicians and business people because of his attitude against the citizens.
If you would like a more detailed report of the current situation, you can watch the Young Turks video:
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcT6-0Cz-RI"]PM Of Turkey Blames Protests On... - YouTube[/ame]If you like CNN better:
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptfuwpbxJfE"]CNN International - Protests Spread in Turkey - GeziPark Istanbul - Taksim - YouTube[/ame]Also, I'm posting the videos and photos I shot like many other people. Normally, I'd be scared to even go there but it is more difficult to stay home when these are taking place. We also learned how to deal with tear gas, it's like a class-based multiplayer game. We have some "throwers" who throw back the gas bombs, some build barricades so the crowds can gather behind them, there are healers who spray proper medicine solutions into your eyes, more experienced folks are there to even save you when you shout "I can't open my eyes!"/"I can't walk.". Finally, some folks like me shoot videos. Here are the videos/photos I shot:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0ADtH-fWsMM_Sji7M47rcw
This is one of the more descriptive videos I shot(3:26 was probably the most scary time of my life):
[ame="
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80kG7LHqP9U"]03.06.2013 15:30 - 16:30 K?z?lay Ankara - YouTube[/ame]Thanks for reading/watching. People are shouting "Government, resign!" as I'm typing these words in the next street.
Replies
Best of luck to you and to the people of Turkey.
I actually choose relatively safe places and times as this is my first time doing this. Some experienced people stay on the streets in the night too so the protests can go on the day after without interruption:
[ame="
above all else, stay safe man. you can't help your country be a better place if something happens to you.
Yes, I film stuff because in the beginning, nothing was shown by the local media. They chose to hide it as their bosses were told to by the government. We tried to spread the news with our own videos through facebook, twitter etc. Many people made live streams through their smart phones too.
Some TV channels apologized for their attitude and started making stories about police brutality etc. but I don't think any of us will take them seriously ever again.
You said 'its not art' at the top of the thread but it was.it is surviving and its pure freedome ART.
Kipiripi is in same place with you and other brothers.
it was harsh days and nights but we gonna see bright lights soon I hope...
-Blackkkkkkk
Yes, it's true it's art.
On a side note, this black-white thing is very interesting too. We have this sports fan organization named "
Btw i read that 15 or so people were arrested because of Twitter.This is ridiculous if its true.
Good luck!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/05/turkish-police-arrests-social-media-protest
Having been in the same kind of circumstances the only thing I came learning all too well from it is that none of those arrogant egocentric assholes are worth getting hurt over.
I know that it's the worst kind of feeling when you can see injustice and you don't step up to stop it. So you do. But you stay safe. And whenever there is some real danger you get away immediately. It's not your fault that the country is fucked. You don't have to suffer for it. There are enough places in the world where people live without that kind of struggle. So work your ass off and move away.
It's gonna be super hard but at the end of the day don't let the country you were born in determine how you are going to die. It's not important and it's not who you are and you always have a choice for a better life.
I remember thinking about sticking a knife in between the ribs of a fucking police pig amidst all the commotion. It just hurt me so bad to watch the things they did. But that's the easy way out. The hard is sticking out, working hard and having a long happy life far from all of that.
So stay safe bro. Your art will get you through.
Luckily, I am supported by many friends and my whole family. I don't need anything more than the patience to improve myself.
We can't trust the government, the police, the media...
I hope ull be able to use the chaos in the area and topple the regime, Turkey has many resources and influences from the west to promote awareness and courage in its people. But, on the other hand, so does the involvement of the government with the west. I hardly believe it will be foolish enough to repeat the mistakes of other more totalitarian regimes (e.g. Syria, Egypt, etc.), being so publicly exposed.