#OccupyGezi and Youth: What I thought I knew – and didn’t know

Posted on June 13, 2013 by lizcameron

Youth we know protesting near Dolmabahce Cami in Bekistas - one is throwing a gas cannister back towards police (Image by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

Youth protesting near Dolmabahce Cami in Bekistas – one is throwing a gas canister back towards police (Image by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

It would be a lie to say that I could summarize or explain “the protesting youth of Turkey today.” Who could? The New York Times takes a stab at it here.  The key sentence in their piece, as I see it from the vantage point of the youth I know is “They don’t want to seize the state so much as teach it to behave.”

But let me talk about our own experience over the last week, during which we have been very worried about our young family members and young friends in Istanbul. We often wonder whether they are being beaten or tear gassed or water hosed just for peacefully demonstrating about their concerns.  Then, this afternoon, as I was taking a nap, I felt a tap tap tap on my cheek. Squinting one I open, I saw Kenne – otherwise known as the Queen puppet responsible for the maintenance manners and the protection and promotion of ladylike behavior et alia. As usual, she had a sour look on her face, and was displeased with something.

“Youth today,” she spat, “really! They are çapulcular indeed!”  In case you don’t know what çapulcular are – check out this link.

Wagging the paper at me, I saw she was holding up an image printed from the computer. It showed three young men in the midst of a smoky gas cloud with one throwing something into the air. I immediately knew it was Istanbul, and that probably the young men were throwing a teargas canister back at the police who had likely shot the teargas at these young men. This is now a familiar image to me over the past 12+ days. The particular picture in question, the caption read, was from Beşiktaş, near Dolmabahçe mosque – the mosque that Prime Minister Erdoğan had accused people of drinking and fornicating in – when in fact the Imam of that mosque said “No – not true – it was used as a triage hospital when the police attacked the people who were peacefully protesting.”

Istanbul Octobre 2010 - Mosquée de Dolmabahce

Istanbul Octobre 2010 – Mosquée de Dolmabahce (Photo credit: Valerie Hukalo)

Shots of this type of action have been all over the Turkish news – And I have seen those images as classic adolescent and young adult bravado. You know, the way you feel invincible, that nothing could touch or hurt you? But I know that bravado is also driven By frustration at incremental change towards policies and regulations in daily Turkish life that slipped significantly from the secular upbringing these young people have experienced. However, I have been convinced that the Molotov cocktail throwers have been the minority – certainly not the young people I know.  Also, from cruising the Turkish media, I am sure that some of these protesting youth include Islamist youth who are demonstrating as they are displeased with the iron fist represented in the police response ordered by Prime Minister Erdoğan’s interior minister (who is in charge of the police).

Finally, after a week of being angry about the lack of media attention to these major events in Turkey, we at least began to see images of what I thought were these “outlier” young men on CNN last night -mostly men from what I can see – throwing Molotov cocktails and returning shot gas canisters by hand towards police. I engaged in a one sided screaming match with the television, begging the reporters to report on the much larger community of youth who were NOT what my Turkish friend perfectly refers to as the “crackheads” crazy enough to still be inside the park and engage in such behavior. Crazy indeed, I thought! Who would be stupid enough to do that – put your life in danger? But as soon as I said it, I remind myself again that teenagers and young adults feel invincible untouchable and that explains a lot what I was seeing. Falan filan.

I watched and watched – although my husband could not stand to be in the room looking at the TV pictures of the Square so near his home (as I wrote about yesterday). Although I must say the coverage was more focused on the fact that the reporter had to wear a gas mask then on the substance of the situation in Turkey – but eventually some really good commentary came on CNN).

But let me take you back to this afternoon. Kenne Left me with the photo of these young çapulcular çapuling With their gas masks, rubber gloves and bravado. When I woke up again, I had the surprise I did not expect.

The surprise came in the form of an email from one of the young Turkish men I know very well who has lived with us. He sent me a link to an Internet site – a news site with 43 pictures of young people protesting in the streets of Istanbul. Let’s not even get onto the topic of how the media seems to indicate that all of the protest is only going on in Istanbul and not in all the other cities. As I began to scroll through the slides – my young friend sent me another message – “I’m in picture number 30” he said, “I’m in the middle with a gas mask on!”

My heart stopped as I clicked as fast as I could to number 30. And there it was, the photo that Kenne had printed out for me (see photo at top of post). It was one of the beloved young ones that I know. My mind raced as I tried to make sense of this. This young man studies a serious topic in University, is a kind person, always helped my ailing father during family visits, how could he be in a gas mask in the middle of the major fighting in Beşiktaş? I had to revise my view on what I was seeing on CNN – on what I was thinking I knew FOR SURE about the young generation – at least those that I have known.  These were young, secular men I knew, engaging in this behavior – as a result of having tear gas shot at them while peacefully protesting. It’s a lot to sit with – the notion that this sweet young man was fighting fire with fire.  As our e-conversation progressed, this young man told me he wanted his grandkids to remember him as a çapulcu who fought for what was right in the hope that the government would listen and things would be better.  It’s a lot for me to sit with.  It’s a lot for all of us to sit with.  I just hope that Tayyip sits with it a bit more.

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Posted in On Islam and Muslims, Turkish Controversies, Visits from the Karagöz puppets | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Beyond the #OccupyGezi hashtag in one Turkish-American household

Posted on June 12, 2013 by lizcameron

image1.jpgSlowly, American folks around us have started to tune in to what is happening in Turkey. Some have caught on to this on Twitter via the hashtag #OccupyGezi, referring to the Occupy Movement in Istanbul’s Gezi Park, which was at risk of being razed for the development of the Prime Minister’s son’s shopping mall. Slowly, M. and I have learned to navigate the challenge of watching one’s homeland erupt into the unknown from thousands of miles away. It includes M.’s usually excellent English breaking down – I suppose due to preoccupation with what is going on at home – or as he says – one of his homes. It includes M. taking naps to alleviate stress, something I have never seen him do. It includes partnering on the production of protest slogans and signs for the protests that have occurred in and around Boston by the small population of Turks living here.

"One falls, thousands stand up" (Image author unknown)

“One falls, thousands stand up” (Image author unknown)

But back to the fact that people have come around to this news about Turkey slowly – this has been particularly painful for us – and for M. One colleague asked him “why the Islamists were rioting in Turkey” – not realizing that the movement appears to be largely driven by secular forces. I say slowly, as media coverage (especially television coverage) seemed slow to pick up the 10+ day old story. I was relieved to see CNN tonight, finally reporting much of what we heard last week on top of their live broadcasts of clashes between a minority of violent protestors and police all night in Taksim Square. In any case, if you want to get up to speed, by far the most thoughtful piece on the topic is written by a heroine of mine, , who addresses what the situation in Turkey means for the West in The Guardian here. If you read anything, read that, please!

20130609-224611.jpgSo, how has this impacted us as a couple? As reports began of protests and police brutality in Istanbul’s Taksim Square a week ago last Friday, M. and I hopped on our laptops and stayed there for hours – online Turkish news fora, Turkish newspapers, email with friends – and of course Twitter and Facebook. We, along with our friends and family quickly realized that a true people’s movement was afoot – some might say almost a revolution and some might say a precursor to Civil War. I suppose others might say it is a flash in the pan. It remains to be seen how these events (which have rolled across Turkey way beyond Istanbul) will proceed.

Image by Liz Cameron

Image by Liz Cameron

My husband, usually a loud, gregarious and friendly person appeared to me to be sinking farther and farther inside himself, and the couch, eyes glued to laptop – with the occasional seemingly heated conversation with a Turkish friend or family member (I say seemingly as all conversations with Turkish friends or family members in the 10 years we have been together sound heated – even if they are about where one can buy the best red pepper or baklava).

Over these past 10+ days, I have seen M.’s eyes take on a somber tone, bereft of the usual rougue-ish glitter that is generally present. He didn’t want to talk, he didn’t want to process, he just wanted me to sit with him. I watched as his fingertips typed all the faster on his laptop – with about 10 tabs of the Internet open for each of the Turkish newspapers across the political spectrum – Milliyet, Today’s Zaman, Radikal, Hurriyet Daily News, etc.

On that first Friday night, we stayed up much of the night watching the Internet – nothing about the protest was covered on US television that we could see. We sleepily watched the beginnings of the throngs of protestors walking across one of Istanbul’s massive bridges from the Asian side of the city to the European side of the city. And as we watched, I realized that it was not just worry about one’s home country that I was watching – it was echoes of what I believe to be M.’s post traumatic stress disorder from his own terrifying interaction with Turkish police during one of the three coup d’états he has lived through.

I knew better than to ask him about it, I knew he would not want to talk about it. And what he experienced was a drop in the bucket compared to friends of his who were detained for long periods, and tortured terribly. As dawn broke through our New England living room window, we continued to watch the now thousands of protesters pouring out from around the city towards Taksim Square, to support the original #OccupyGezi protesters.

“I am so worried for them,” he said “I think the police will beat them when they get to the other side.”

“But canım (dear), There are so many people! It looks like thousands and thousands of people crossing that bridge, don’t you think that offers some safety?”

At this point, Hacivad Bey, the learned Sufi elder puppet who resides in my head (read more about that here if you think I’m tripping on acid), well he just stroked his beard, he’s seen a lot in his life. “M’lady, he said to me, he could be right. Don’t dissuade him, just be quiet and listen.”

Karagöz, our resident agent provocateur puppet, on the other hand whooped and hollered in agreement with my husband. “Yep,” he said “they’ll all get the serious beat down.”

The little chorus of dancing lady puppets who reside in my purse cowered and trembled and shook. But the air of empowerment seemed to infiltrate the bowels of the purse.

After a time, I began to hear a great clattering and clanging coming from my purse – those little ladies were making a fantastic rhythm with their spoons and pots and pans and çay bardağı Much as many of the residence in the houses of Istanbul (& many other cities) are doing every night for 11 days – when they were not venturing into the street.

Esma, our hippie puppet rummaged around the house for a gas mask and transported herself back to Istanbul – soon enough we saw her at the front of the march coming from Kadıköy across the bridge – a little tiny puppet in a rose petal dress fist held high, yelling “Hükumet istifa!” (“Government, resign!”).

Kenne, the Queen of manners and maintenance of ladylike behavior puppet stuck her head up high, pursed her lips and through her nose said “how that puppet lived in the Ottoman court I’ll never know – she’s just so oppositional and non-ladylike! ”

As the large group (and large is an understatement) made it towards the end of the bridge We breathe a sigh of relief as the people were allowed to pass. We watched streams and streams and streams of people – men, women, children, conservative religious, traditional, modern, miniskirt wearing – everybody crossing the bridge – all captured on a live stream video handheld by our only news source, a citizen Broadcasting on the Internet. As the days went on (and on) we heard more of the story and realized that this was indeed not an organized uprising of the people – a true people’s movement. My husband has tears in his eyes much of the time – but only the ones a wife would notice without mentioning them.

“I am relieved that we are not there, “he said quietly, referring to our trip, cancelled for my own health reasons two days before the riots started “because I would worry so about your health and the pain that you are experiencing, “but I am so sad not to be there, to miss this historical moment.”Knowing that I didn’t need to say it, but feeling guilty, I quietly responded with “canım please go if you need to – I support you 100%. ” And I meant it. My husband is not a fan of nationalism. He hates flags. He hates nationalistic politics. He hates the danger that can come with nationalism. He wishes he did not have to be affiliated with any state. Idealist, I know, but to see this hint of nationalism and pride surprised me in some ways and did not in others.

karagoz tayyip erdogan occupy gezi liz cameronFor years, you see, M. has had a maudlin attitude about Turkey whenever we are there – “Everything is different,” he says angrily sometimes, “it’s not like it used to be – the traffic is awful, the smog is oppressive, there are too many people everywhere, the trash is everywhere, there McDonald’s restaurants, the old meyhane (local restaurants) are gone, where is the Turkey I know and love? ” Underneath much of this mouthy protest, I believe, has been his fear that what occurred in Iran during his formative years – namely the Islamist fundamentalist uprising – could occur in Turkey. He has never been a fan of the current party in power (the AKP) and is a supporter of the Turkish Green Party, although, Turkish nationals residing out of the country are not allowed to vote in absentia.

I began to realize that what my husband was experiencing before my eyes was an awakening of sorts – or perhaps a new level of awakening. We began to see graffiti and protest signs in Istanbul saying things such as “I was drunk for 10 years, and when the Prime Minister Erdoğan banned alcohol from 10 PM to 6 AM I sobered up and realized this reality sucks. ” Although these signs and slogans were somewhat in gest, they hold a nugget of truth about what’s going on. People have had enough of the slow introduction of increasingly restrictive Islamist-oriented policies and regulations, of the large number of journalists detained without charge in many cases – and more that you can read about.

Image by Liz Cameron

Image by Liz Cameron

As Nazim Hikmet, the famous Turkish writer said, “one tree falls, one nation rises.” All of this has been unexpected – for Turks – for people worldwide – and for how our relationship handles times of crisis. It is a learning moment for us all – and we are all standing on the tip of the #OccupyGezi iceburg.

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Posted in Cross-cultural learning moments, On Islam and Muslims, Turkish Controversies, Turkish-American Matters, Turklish Moments, Visits from the Karagöz puppets | Tagged , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

The Karagöz puppets are çapuling from bed rest!

Posted on June 8, 2013 by lizcameron

Image by Liz Cameron

Image by Liz Cameron

Arkadaşlar – Friends,

I’m trying hard to make a slowly by slowly come back… I’m feeling very sick and awaiting surgery without a set date due to insurance problems. As I lie here in bed in pain I am entertaining myself by watching the goings on in Turkey – which feel quite revolutionary. Most of you will know what I am talking about – but in case you don’t Hacivad Bey & I will sum it up for you here:

(Karagöz is impatient – just protest – forget blogging – time only for çapuling!)

Only roughly 2% of Istanbul’s geographical area is green space. One tiny park in the center of Istanbul, Gezi Parkı, became at risk of being razed at the order of Prime Minister Erdoğan.

A small number of protesters began a sit-in, occupy movement-style. They were gassed early-morning a week ago – leading to larger and larger protests w/ thousands upon thousands of people streaming towards the city center from the European and Asian sides of the city. The sheer numbers of people walking across the bridges from the Asian side to the European side of Istanbul over the Bosporus strait were staggering.

Image by Liz Cameron

Image by Liz Cameron

This small environmental protest became the straw that broke the camel’s back (so to speak) for many in Turkey around issues of government repression vis a vis veiling, sales of alcohol, media repression and more. As the famous Turkish writer and poet Nazim Hikmet said years ago,
“one tree fell, one nation rose!” And indeed, it appears this has happened, albeit perhaps for slightly more than 50% of the population. Turkey is split fairly evenly as I understand it between secularists & more conservative practitioners of Islam.

Responses to these peaceful protests have been stunningly brutal on the part of the police who have used tear gas and pepper gas and water cannons with abandon. Our friends have been gassed and at times the gas has so saturated the air across the city that our friends have had to flee their apartments because they could not breathe.

We have watched a video of police brutality on M.’s Home street – where we can see the family building which he grew up in and which is still part of the family. Can you imagine watching a revolution take place on your home street? There were pools of blood on the street – it was very disturbing.

There are many light moments though, that I have watched on my iPad – videos highlighting the amazing creativity and humor of Turks in the face of such a difficult situation. One of my favorite graffiti lines said “please send more pepper gas – it’s good for the complexion.” Of course, after Prime Minister Erdoğan Referred to the protesters as çapulcular – Which can be translated as bombs, looters, rioters, troublemakers, etc. – The people have taken back the word and made it into their own. Slogans such as “I am çapuling every day” or “I çapul, Therefore I am” are commonly seen in graffiti around the city now.

So far, it appears that the AKP governing party has not budged very much in response to this major popular movement – a popular movement that is burgeoning way beyond Istanbul in many cities all over Turkey including for example Bursa, Eskişehir, Antakya,
Tunceli, Diyarbakır, Rize, İzmir & Ankara Among many more. We hear that almost all of the 81 provinces in Turkey are experiencing protest – not mostly nonviolent protest. It saddens us that the United States television media especially seems to focus only on Istanbul – although it’s a bit better today.

In any case, Karagöz And the whole theater puppet crew resident here in the bed with me have one message for you:

“Viva çapuling & power to all the çapulcular worldwide – may good sense, compromise, reason and peace abound as we move forward in these difficult days.”

20130608-150934.jpg

Posted in On writing about my life with the Karagöz puppets, Turkish Controversies, Visits from the Karagöz puppets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments