I just went to Youtube, and on the first page there was this video of a protester overrun by a police tank: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbYQ_dzFniY EDIT: it looks to me that at the beginning of the video you can spot the feet of another person behind him.
What is Happening in Istanbul?
101–110 of 519 posts
Re: What is Happening in Istanbul?
#102Re: What is Happening in Istanbul?
#103The tearing down of trees for commercial and residential areas is happening here too. It's called urban sprawl. Land developers wipe out natural habitats like forests and leave sterile, artificial suburbs and plazas in its stead. Most citizens never hear about it until it's too late because it's not easy to find out about the latest zonings. Trying to have a say in the process? Well, that's a whole new level of obfus…
You mean they're tearing down trees for new homes and jobs? The horror!
Educate yourself on urban sprawl and "smart growth": http://www.smartgrowth.org
Re: What is Happening in Istanbul?
#104The tearing down of trees for commercial and residential areas is happening here too. It's called urban sprawl. Land developers wipe out natural habitats like forests and leave sterile, artificial suburbs and plazas in its stead. Most citizens never hear about it until it's too late because it's not easy to find out about the latest zonings. Trying to have a say in the process? Well, that's a whole new level of obfus…
Re: What is Happening in Istanbul?
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
The current Turkish government has been jailing journalists for years. Whilst the constitution makes the country ostensibly secular, the AKP has been slowly turning it into an Islamist state. I assumed that's what was fundamentally behind the protests, but maybe it's just another anti-corporate thing.
The initial action was a picnic of 50 people to protest removal of trees from Gezi Parkı which was subjected to intense police reaction. If you recall the London riots (during which I was in Wales), rude attitude of police and political scandals were among the suggested reasons, which are also among the facts that inducted things happened here in Turkey. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taksim_Gezi_Park
Re: What is Happening in Istanbul?
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
According to Russia Today: "At least two people were killed in the demonstrations in Turkey, Amnesty International said on Sunday. Over 1,000 protestors were injured. Most of them were hurt near Taksim Square in Istanbul, the focal point of the recent protest." On the Amnesty International blog they wrote this (but it does not talk about any deaths): http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=20803
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Re: What is Happening in Istanbul?
#107This is disgusting, the "right" to profit/property is the least important thing, it should never trump people's well-being or the environment.
Yet a democratically-elected government made a decision in the name of the people to replace this park with a shopping mall. People protesting against that by blocking the construction process (i.e. stand in front of bulldozers etc.) are effectively overturning democracy in order to protect their personal interests. This is a general problem I have with such active counter-protests, be they to stop a station from bei…
Re: What is Happening in Istanbul?
#108Can someone perhaps comment on the alleged use of agent orange? [1] From my limited knowledge of chemical weapons ( in lack of a better word), it is an deforestation chemical, and has no direct use for riot control. So currently my take is, that this is a rumor, since its use would better fit into the narrative than into a plausible police strategy. [1] for example: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1fi07t/i…
A chemical weapons expert interviewed by a Swedish newspaper said that it is unlikely that Turkey actually used agent orange. They do refer to it Orange Gas but I don't know if that is actually different from Agent Orange?
http://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/polisen-anvander-kemiska-st... Unfortunately only available in Swedish, but Google translate should make it at least somewhat readable.
Re: What is Happening in Istanbul?
#109Can someone perhaps comment on the alleged use of agent orange? [1] From my limited knowledge of chemical weapons ( in lack of a better word), it is an deforestation chemical, and has no direct use for riot control. So currently my take is, that this is a rumor, since its use would better fit into the narrative than into a plausible police strategy. [1] for example: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1fi07t/i…
I'd find it hard to believe that anything closely resembling it is used by any sane police force, that seems like it would be classified as chemical warfare?
Re: What is Happening in Istanbul?
#110Can someone perhaps comment on the alleged use of agent orange? [1] From my limited knowledge of chemical weapons ( in lack of a better word), it is an deforestation chemical, and has no direct use for riot control. So currently my take is, that this is a rumor, since its use would better fit into the narrative than into a plausible police strategy. [1] for example: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1fi07t/i…