The Gezi Park Resistance and its Effects

Turkey is experiencing something unprecedented and unexpected. Of course, there was a chance that the social upheavals and revolutions that shook the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern region could spread to Turkey. However, nobody knew whether, when or under what conditions this would happen. After many days of protest, which started as protest for the preservation of the public Gezi Park to grow into a set of demands concerning the regime, the government and authoritarian decision making, the direction of demonstrations is still unclear. All sections of the opposition from nationalists to Kurds, from the socialist left to the disgruntled middle class seem to agree on their condemnation of the pressure created by a formal democracy that ignores participatory principles and increasingly turns into a one-man-rulership. A non-transparent negotiation process concerning the Kurdish issue, public constructions projects decided and contracted regardless of their social and ecological costs, top-down reforms in education and ruthless police control on any type of genuine opposition have been some of the contributing factors in the accumulation of a potential for reaction and dissent. Baffling is the sheer self-censorship implemented by the mainstream media about these massive protests and police brutality. It is hard to gather and disseminate dependable information about the nature of the events. It is important to clear the air from information pollution, make an even-headed appraisal of the dynamics that set the public opposition free and evaluate these historical moments in terms of their implications for the future of democracy in Turkey.