Isa EsAsi

Isa on an Infield. Photo courtesy of the woman herself.

Istiklal is Occupied

Protestors jam Istiklal Street en route to Taksim. Although the streets were extremely crowded, there were no reports of trampling or violence among the protestors prior to any attack by the police.

L-0-V-E

Sylvia, a Roma woman from Romania holds the first authentic American dollar bill she has encountered in her life. She bused with her male companion from Oslo to Istanbul.

Horon

A young Roma girl sells water bottles and watches as men dance an early morning horon, a traditional Anatolian circle dance in Taksim Square.

As an American, an element that made the mass protests in Taksim Square so interesting was the level of enjoyment people got between the breaks of struggling with police tear gas and water cannon attacks. The young men here traditional circle dances that are used in celebrations thoughout Anatolia, the Caucauses, Bulgaria and the Middle East. These dances are familiar with young and old even in modernized cities like Istanbul or Ankara.

At night, while people filled Gezi Park with their tents and sleeping bags, men take out Turkish instruments and begin to play songs. Three singing turns to a dozen singing turns to 6 dozen or more singing. Turkish youth can defiantly sing their folk songs at a moment’s prompting.

Turkish paramedic volunteers

Paramedics, doctors and nurses created a volunteer medic and first aid clinic to the side of Taksim Square. The local Starbucks closed down for weeks and the medics made use of the space.

 

Plastic bullets fired by Turkish police into protestors

As the protest clashes escalated, the police resorted to firing plastic bullets and shooting acid water from cannons in addition to the already massive use of tear gas.

Typical Makeshift Barricade

This is an example of the typical makeshift barricades one could find surrounding Taksim Square. This specific road leads down away from the Square to Gumushuyu and Besiktash Stadium. There were approximately 5 more barricades on this street. Within days of this photograph being taken, the police would storm the Square, using this as one route.

Waiting for the metro train, Karakoy, Istanbul

Karakoy stop, metro train. In the distance is the New Mosque, completed in 1663. Construction had begun in 1597 but suffered a serious setback as a fire and near complete structural collapse delayed completion. The metro crosses the Galata Bridge which was originally built by Justinian the Great in the 6th century.

Any visitor to Istanbul who has a day or two to burn should spend it riding these metro and tramvay lines. Get off on random spots that strike you as particularly beautiful or horrible. There are hidden treasure everywhere. Buy a refillable plastic metro card and go sip tea or raki in random alleyways. You will make interesting friends.

Protests on Istiklal Street

Protestors occupy buildings on Istiklal Street, Istanbul’s famous car-less promenade that leads to Taksim Square. At the time this photo was taken, many of the businesses had shut down as the street was claustrophobically crowded with chanting and singing protesters, day and night.

This particular building is not too far from the Greek embassy and a school I taught at early on in my time in Turkey. Sadly, the corrupt school was not broken into and occupied by crowds of frustrated young men. “There are more of us than there are them” is something that you would hear and it became jarringly obvious. No matter how many police the Turkish government pulled out there always seemed to be at least ten times more protestors pouring in, with fists raised or arms linked. Regardless of how things will continue in Turkey, it was obvious I was witnessing something extraordinary. The atmosphere and general public mood changes when temporarily the masses have the upper hand on a corrupt police force protecting a government that is mainly interested in keeping people in place.

Asia to Europe

Anti-Erdogan protesters load onto ferryboats that will take them across the Bosphorus to the European side of Istanbul.

Nearly a week after the police had tear gassed the non-violent protesters enthusiasm was just gaining momentum among the protesters. Towards the late afternoon, crowds would gather, singing and chanting as they prepared to load the boats from Kadikoy on the Asian side to Taksim on the European side. The aging ferryboats only hold so many, so most would sit through a number of boats going by to finally load on. The people on the arriving boats would greet the crowds waiting to embark with applause, cheers and chants of their own. When the ferryboat hits the side of the dock, there is a minute where the dockworkers must secure the boat to the solid poles. During this delay, each side just applauded each other, in a kind of emotional solidarity I had never encountered from people from so many varied walks of life. Within the secular parts of Istanbul, basically everyone was willing to show their support for the protest movement and their distaste of President Erdogan. Boat after boat would depart fully loaded with singing crowds, old people waving their hats and teenage boys practically beating each other up out of love and excitement as they held onto each other, as is a Turkish custom.

It’s very difficult to describe these types of moments to someone who hasn’t experienced it. To sound gushingly overly romantic, for just a second, suddenly you’re not alone. You’re not a single entity, fighting against the waves and the crowd. For just a second, you and all of these strangers see truth; these strangers are your brothers and sisters, they’re the same as you, they have the same wants and fears, needs, insecurities, frustrations and hopes. Suddenly you’re together in this momentary congealing and so many of those problems you’ve been told your whole life are misfires and chemical imbalances in your own brain to a world that’s the best it can be just slip away. Temporarily, you’re part of a huge varied mass of  determined and passionate people who are sick of a government telling them what to do, what to believe, what is acceptable and you know you’re on the side of something right and admirable. It’s hard to define exactly what it is in those temporary moments of wholeness but it has something to do with thousands of humans momentarily not expending their energy against each other, but with each other against a powerful authoritative force that claims omnipotence. For a little while, you’re sort of free.