All pictures ©Y. H. M. Thank you!
I met Yeliz a few years ago. Our paths crossed and I won’t tell you why nor how. There was friendship, then misunderstandings, arguments, life’s ups and downs...
She disappeared for a while from my life only to make a come back when she heard I almost died last summer. She’s a lovely girl, you know.
We started writing again. She told me then she’d be living in Istanbul where she’d be very pleased to welcome me as soon as I’d feel like it.
And then life went on.
Every morning, I read my share of newspapers... So I knew about Gezi Park and the demonstrations that were starting to develop there from an ecological point of view. “Protect the trees,” they said, fighting to halt a building project from the government that would end up with felling all the trees in Gezi... This is an unfair shortening of the objectives in stopping the destruction of Gezi Park.
So people took to the streets. First in Istanbul then all over Turkey. Those were peace demonstrations. Yes, they were. People came from all walks of life. Some were very young and others very old...
The repression was fearsome.
And people kept demonstrating and organizing their protest movement all over the country.
What about Yeliz then? Well, I had been thinking a lot about her and her family... and then I got a message from a mutual friend, one week ago already. She wanted me to read Yeliz’s Facebook status which sent shivers down my spine.
She disappeared for a while from my life only to make a come back when she heard I almost died last summer. She’s a lovely girl, you know.
We started writing again. She told me then she’d be living in Istanbul where she’d be very pleased to welcome me as soon as I’d feel like it.
And then life went on.
Every morning, I read my share of newspapers... So I knew about Gezi Park and the demonstrations that were starting to develop there from an ecological point of view. “Protect the trees,” they said, fighting to halt a building project from the government that would end up with felling all the trees in Gezi... This is an unfair shortening of the objectives in stopping the destruction of Gezi Park.
So people took to the streets. First in Istanbul then all over Turkey. Those were peace demonstrations. Yes, they were. People came from all walks of life. Some were very young and others very old...
The repression was fearsome.
And people kept demonstrating and organizing their protest movement all over the country.
What about Yeliz then? Well, I had been thinking a lot about her and her family... and then I got a message from a mutual friend, one week ago already. She wanted me to read Yeliz’s Facebook status which sent shivers down my spine.
As soon as I read it, I sent a mail to Yeliz asking how they all were doing and what could we do to help... Friends and relatives of mine started sharing her status on line and her pictures.
She answered just to let me know she was fine but that she’d keep demonstrating like the hundreds of thousands people around her... for their right to live freely, lawfully protected and respected by the government.
She sounded very determined even when she knew she’d be met with water cannons and tear gas and violence.
Because Freedom with a capital F is at the root of this so-called social unrest.
I’ll have to write another post about Turkey and the reasons why people from all walks of life are united against one Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan whose party, the “AKP” was lawfully elected ten years ago.
Tonight I just want to share with you a few pictures Yeliz has been taking day after day...
They are all copyrighted of course (©Y. H. M.) but I cannot give her full name. Considering what is happening right now, it would not be safe.
I know she would not mind me giving her full name but I won’t do it for her sake... probably because I am much older than she is and that she and her family and friends are dealing against very dark and powerful forces.
She answered just to let me know she was fine but that she’d keep demonstrating like the hundreds of thousands people around her... for their right to live freely, lawfully protected and respected by the government.
She sounded very determined even when she knew she’d be met with water cannons and tear gas and violence.
Because Freedom with a capital F is at the root of this so-called social unrest.
I’ll have to write another post about Turkey and the reasons why people from all walks of life are united against one Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan whose party, the “AKP” was lawfully elected ten years ago.
Tonight I just want to share with you a few pictures Yeliz has been taking day after day...
They are all copyrighted of course (©Y. H. M.) but I cannot give her full name. Considering what is happening right now, it would not be safe.
I know she would not mind me giving her full name but I won’t do it for her sake... probably because I am much older than she is and that she and her family and friends are dealing against very dark and powerful forces.
 |
| So there she is... |
And of course, some of her pictures showing strongly that these demonstrations are very peaceful and filled with hope, conviction and resoluteness.
https://www.facebook.com/geziparkidirenisi
http://humanrightsturkey.org/2013/06/01/abuses-against-protestors-in-turkey-amnesty-calls-for-urgent-action/
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