54 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
54 lines
2.6 KiB
Markdown
The **Gezi Park Uprising** or **Gezi Park Protests** was an
|
|
[uprising](List_of_Libertarian_Socialist_Revolutions "wikilink") in
|
|
[Turkey](Republic_of_Turkey "wikilink") by
|
|
[environmentalists](Environmentalism "wikilink") to protect city parks
|
|
in [2013](Timeline_of_Libertarian_Socialism_in_Western_Asia "wikilink").
|
|
This uprising helped create the [Gezi Park
|
|
Commune](Gezi_Park_Commune "wikilink").
|
|
|
|
## Background
|
|
|
|
In Istanbul (the capital and largest city in Turkey) the local
|
|
government was aggressively pursuing development policies and building
|
|
many new things to attract investors. This destroyed many green,
|
|
cultural and historical sites and pushed up rents and prices for most of
|
|
the population. When it was announced that they planned to tear down
|
|
Gezi Park - the largest green space in the city - to make way for a new
|
|
shopping center and luxury apartments, many people were outraged.\[1\]
|
|
|
|
## Events
|
|
|
|
Spread out over several weeks, the Gezi Park Uprising saw people in
|
|
major cities battle [police](police "wikilink") with rocks, improvised
|
|
barricades in city streets and [molotovs](Molotov_Cocktail "wikilink"),
|
|
often driving them out of buildings and streets. In response, police
|
|
used tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray and occasionally ran over
|
|
protesters. There were also anti-protest mobs who attacked protesters
|
|
with baseball bats and wooden planks. Protesters burned down several
|
|
police stations, government buildings and businesses to express their
|
|
frustration.The riots largely subsided when the government reversed its
|
|
decisions to destroy the parks and forests, despite saying they wouldn't
|
|
listen to the protesters at first.\[2\]
|
|
|
|
## Results
|
|
|
|
The movement succeeded in ending the destruction of a city park and
|
|
several rural forests. The movement also opened up more opportunities
|
|
for queer people and ethnic minorities. The major football club Carşi
|
|
reached out to a major LGBT organization and apologized for its prior
|
|
use of sexist and homophobic chants.The Pride march and the Trans march
|
|
in Istanbul that June were larger than they had ever been in the past,
|
|
as queer people felt more comfortable openly expressing themselves after
|
|
the protests.\[3\]
|
|
|
|
## References
|
|
|
|
<references />
|
|
|
|
1. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
|
|
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gezi_Park_protests>
|
|
2. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
|
|
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Gezi_Park_protests>
|
|
3. [Peter Gelderloos](Peter_Gelderloos "wikilink") (2015) [The Failure
|
|
of Nonviolence](The_Failure_of_Nonviolence "wikilink") -
|
|
<https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-the-failure-of-nonviolence> |