Standing Up in Turkey
Posted on : Sep.24,2013 07:34 KST
By John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus
I arrived in Istanbul earlier this month just as protests were flaring up throughout Turkey. An activist had died at a protest in a southern city, one of several victims of the confrontations with riot police over the last year. By the time I got to Taksim Square in the heart of the city, the riot police had broken up the peaceful demonstration and chased protesters to all points of the compass. I managed to loop around behind the police barricade on the famous pedestrian thoroughfare Istiklal Caddesi. There I discovered a cadre of very well-prepared activists Tweeting updates on their location and the activities of the police. The protestors wore hard hats and sophisticated gas masks. I was considerably less prepared, and the tear gas that hung in the air stung my eyes as I snapped photos of the confrontation.
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