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To my friends who live outside of Turkey:

I am writing to let you know what is going on in Istanbul for the last five days. I personally have to write this because at the time of my writing most of the media sources are shut down by the government and the world of mouth and the internet is the only way left for us to explain ourselves and call for help and support.
Last week of May 2013 a group of people most of whom did not belong to any spesific organization of ideology got together in Istanbul's Gezi Park. Among them there were many of my friends and yoga students.Their reason was simple : To prevent and protest the upcoming demolishing of the park for the sake of building yet another shopping mall at the very center of the city. There are numerous shopping malls in Istanbul, at least one in every neighborhood.The tearing down of the trees was supported to begin early Thursday morning.People went to the park with their blankets, books and children. They put their tents down and spent the night under the trees.Early in the morning when the bulldozers started to pull the hundred-year-old trees out the ground, they stood up against them to stop the operation.
THEY DID NOTHING THAN STANDING IN FRONT OF THE MACHINES..
No newspaper, no TV channel were there to report the protest. It was a complete media block out.
But the police arrived with water cannon vehicles and pepper sprey.They chased the crowd out of the park.
In the evening of May 31st the number of protesters multiplied.So did the number of police forces around the park.Meanwhile local government of Istanbul shut down all the ways leading up to Taksim square where the Gezi Park is located. Metro was shut down, ferries were canceled, roads were blocked. Yet, more and more people made their way up to the center of the city by walking..
They came from all around Istanbul.They came from from all different backgrounds, different ideologies, different religions.Old people, doctors, musicians, artists, youngesters, students, housewifes, teachers........They all gathered to prevent the demolition of something bigger than the park:
THE RIGHT TO LIVE AS HONORABLE CITICENS OF THIS COUNTRY
They gathered and continued sitting in the park.The riot police set fire to the demonstrator's tents and attacked them with pressurized water, pepper and tear gas early in the morning while they were asleep.Two young people were run over by the panzers and were killed.Another young woman, a friend of mine was hit in the head with by one of the incoming tear gas canisters. The police were shooting them straight in the crowd. After a three hour operation she is still in the ICU and in very critical condition. As I write this I don't know if she is going to make it. This blog is dedicated to her.
These people are my friends.They are my students, my relatives..They have no 'hidden agenda' as the State likes to say. Their agenda is out there. It was very clear.The whole country is being sold to corporations by the government for the construction of the malls, luxury condominiums, freeways, bridges, dams and nuclear plants.The government is looking for (and creating when necessary) any excuse to attack Syria against the people's will.
On top of all, the government control over it's people's personal lives has become unbearable as of late.The state, under its conservative agenda passed many laws and regulations concerning abortion, cesarean birth, sale and use of alcohol and even by the color of lipstick worn by the airline stewardesses...
People who are marching to the center of Istanbul are demanding for their right to live freely and receive justice, protection and respect from the State.They demand to be involved by the decision-making processes about the city they live in.
What they have received instead is excessive force and enormus amounts of tear gas shot straight to their faces.Three people lost their eyes.
Yet they still march.Hundreds and thousands of citizens from all walks of life then joined them to support the protesters. Couple of more thousands passed the Bosporus Bridge on foot to support the people of Taksim.They were met with more cannons and more pepper sprey, more hostility.Four people died, many injured.
No newspaper, no TV channel was there to report the events.They were busy with brodacasting news about Miss Turkey and the strangest cats of the world...
Police kept chasing people and spraying them with pepper spray to an extent that stray dogs and cats were poisoned and died by it.
Schools, hospitals and and even 5 star Hotels around Taksim Square opened their doors to the injured.Doctors filled the classrooms and hotel rooms to provide first aid. Some police officers refused to spray innocent people with tear gas and quit their jobs.Around the square they placed jammers to prevent internet connection and 3G networks were blocked...Residents and businessman in the area provided free wireless network for the people on the streets.Restaurants offered food and water for free...
People in Ankara and Izmir gathered on the streets to support the resistance in Istanbul.Demonstrations spread to other cities where citizens were faced more brutality and hostility from police.Hundreds and thousands kept joining. Mainstream media kept showing, Miss Turkey, the strangers cats of the world and the life of pelicans....
I am writing this letter so that you know what is going on in Turkey. Mass media will not let you know any of this.Not in my country at least. Please post as many articles as you see on the internet and spread to the world.
I do not belong to a political party.I do not believe in politics. I don't defend any ideology and I am not on the side of my regime. Like many others in Turkey I am TIRED and FRUSTRATED from the polarization between Kemalist(Atatürk) seculars and the Islamists. I don't belong to any of them. I believe in moving away from polarization and towards a new way of relating.I know many people who are out on the streets of Turkey share the way I think and I know we are not the only ones. WE JUST WANT TO LIVE OUR LIVES WITH HUMAN DIGNITY..
As I was posting articles that explained what is happenning in Istanbul and Turkey on my Facebook page, last night someone asked me the following question:
"What are you hoping to gain by complaining about our country to foreigners ?"
This blog is my answer to her..
By so called " complaining" about my country, I am hoping to gain:
Freedom expression and speech,
Respect for human rights,
Control over the decisions I make concerning my body,
The right to legally congregate in any part of Istanbul and Turkey without being considered a terrorist..
But most of all by spreading the word to you, my friends who live in other parts of the world, I AM HOPING TO GET YOUR AWARENESS ,SUPPORT and HELP.
Please spread the word and share this blog.
Thank you !
http://defnesumanblogs.com/what-is-happenning-in-istanbul

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My dear friends in FC .
I am not going to make it long after this blog..The reason I copied this blog here is; it is all true and the situation for now is not getting better..I am one of these protesters which Tayyip Erdogan calls "terrorist". My family and I will keep on doing all we can for our country.As mentioned in the blog we all gathered together hand in hand, all different people with whom we might not be friends in normal daylife..Every day the number increases. Now, not thousands but millions are on the street trying to be heard for their life style with dignity and honor...
My wish is to come together with you and be one......
Thank you so much for reading..I hope the best for all...
Canan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28nINJ2TPSY