it was a new moon yesterday, time for new beginnings. in Turkey it was the beginning of a wave of attacks on peaceful protesters at 07.00 am. my best friend messaged me that she was having difficulty getting to work, there had been a sudden escalation of unrest and she was going to go buy a gas mask. the evening before the Governor of Istanbul tweeted about how there would not be any police or any operations because rumors spread quickly about an imminent crackdown Monday morning, quicker than ever before. the morning of 11th June the police came with the tear gas and their water cannons and the media called in to get people posed as protesers hurling molotov cocktails, some had guns in their pockets. the protesters were screaming on social media that these people were not one of them. the police started the tear gas, a man in a wheelchair was hosed down by a water cannon, lawyers were arrested, dozens of people hurt from plastic bullets, women beaten up with nothing to defend themselves, children were in the crowd because the Governor had said there would be nothing going on.
it is painful to watch this from so far away. all of my friends and family have been directly effected and are resisting. they all believe we deserve to live in a country that believes in free speech and in civil liberties. hundreds did yoga at the park a few days ago as a statement of belief in hope and peace. Turkey has gone through much in the past 80 years- growth has been difficult because people have had to learn from their mistakes and now the learning has come to a peak. Turks have had identity issues. Turkey is not like India or the States where the country has adopted the identity of embracing all cultures and groups as their own. this is the first time that gays, transvestites, kurds, alevis, sunnis and shias, apolitical folks have come together to simply want transparency and honesty from the ruling government. the Turks have been lied to and deceived for a long time, before this current government there were plenty of hidden agendas which is why the Turks have not healed. their stress threshold is extremely high which makes them very strong but how long this trauma can last is unknown to me. something has to change for a new idea to take root.
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