On Friday, May 31, Turkish riot police fired tear gas and pepper spray into a peaceful protest held to save Gezi Park, one of the last green areas in central Istanbul. This set off the biggest civil uprising in the history of the Turkish Republic, calling for Prime Minister Recep Erdogan’s resignation. The unrest has spread like wildfire to more than 60 cities where protests are still ongoing. Vice landed in Istanbul the day it all kicked off.
Chaos, violence and anti-government anger continue on the streets of Turkey as protesters to defy the prime minister’s demand to pack up and go home. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned protesters that he will ‘not show any more tolerance’ for them while the streets of Istanbul continue to look more like scenes from a civil war. More from JewishNewsOne.
Members of Turkey’s State Opera and Ballet hold a dance protest in Ankara in solidarity with demonstrators occupying Gezi Park in Istanbul. One protestor explained that dancing on stage was the only way they could express themselves, saying: “The ground is our stage, and it is the only place that we can express ourselves.”
Music also factors heavily in “Everyday I’m Capuling,” a video produced by the protesters to express their cause. “Capuling” is a Turkish term meaning to pillage or plunder. Protesters adopted the term after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to them as “looters.”
