SO MANY DEAD AND INJURED AND HUNDREDS UNDER POLICE CUSTODY
Cutting the trees at Gezi Park, attacking people camping at Gezi at the crack of dawn with water cannons and tear gas, using rubber bullets and spraying millions of protesters with chemicals was not the end of police violence. It is still full on, now with the help of thugs armed with sticks and knives.
Four people have already died during the protests, hundreds were injured and disabled. Ethem Sarısülük was shot with a bullet in Ankara. Now the government has started a “witch hunt”. Hundreds of Turkish citizens, who claimed their park, insisted on their demands and asked for more freedoms have been collected from their homes in the early hours of the morning. Police brutality in the form of custody and arrests is forced upon people exercising their democratic rights. Members of trade associations, unions and political parties are being arrested far and wide. There is an atmosphere of oppression and fear.
253 people have been arrested in Istanbul and 142 in Ankara. The number is on the rise all over the country. We demand the immediate release of everyone under police custody and an end to this anti-democratic policy. We expect health reports on the 7822 people -59 of whom are in critical condition – injured as a result of police violence. Those responsible for this severe picture and the deaths of 4 people should be held accountable, deposed and taken to court.
Responding to democratic protests with police violence followed by mass custody and arrest operations is an all-too-familiar state tradition in Turkey. The current government is doing this on an unprecedented scale. Every coup d’etat, every authoritarian episode had brought along mass arrests in Turkey. The Gezi Park resistance had risen above these outdated authoritarian methods with its popularity, pacifism, legitimacy and creativity. Marches, pots and pans, human chains, and “standing people” have all been transformed into platforms of democratic response.
The demands which started off in Taksim are widely shared now. There is no going back. Tree cutters returned to the park through the council planting new trees and flowers. A proper explanation and apology would have been more meaningful than this perfunctory self-criticism.
Those who suggested that they could do whatever they wanted with the trees, with the park have now realised that they cannot ignore the demands of the people anymore. We are looking forward to a declaration about the cancellation of the development (Topçu Kışlası) project and the deposal of those responsible for it. The use of tear gas and other human health hazards should be banned immediately and those in custody should be released. This is the way to social peace.
Taksim Solidarity will be following up on these demands shared by millions and support the injured and those under police custody. We will be loud and clear in our demands until the wounded are well and those under custody free.
To our student friends are taking their exams right now, we wish you every success, and we wish everyone a happy fathers’ day. Turkey’s rulers who benefit from the polarization of our country are responsible for all the problems faced by our student friends and all the troubles of children and fathers.
At a time when there was ongoing dialogue, the government has violently attacked Gezi Park despite the lack of any active protest in the square and while it was full of people. Those who claim that it is an excuse for us to defend the park and defend life have shown with their attitude last night that the park is indeed an excuse for the AKP. By ordering police attacks and by using the park as an excuse, they have shown everyone that the real aim is to supress the people so that we cannot claim our rights or have our voices heard. According to the information that we could get, around 150 people have been injured and taken to hospitals, hundreds more could not even reach a hospital. Despite all the announcements made by the Istanbul governor which lost their credibility, our citizens who sustained life-threatening injuries are in intensive care units in hospitals. There are injuries from rubber bullets. Mobile infirmaries have been established, hospitals have been attacked by water cannons, masks and medication people used to protect themselves from gas have been confiscated. The chemicals in the pressurized fluid which caused severe skin reactions have still not been disclosed by the authorities.
The government has committed a crime against humanity.
Many people are in police custody. The police have confiscated many personal belongings at Gezi Park. The ban on access to the park for the press is an effort to obscure evidence. Police helmet ID numbers have been hidden. This proves that the PM is determined to maintain his arrogant attitude by ordering police forces to commit crimes and thereby block dialogue. People in police custody should be released immediately.
Gezi Park, Taksim Square and all confiscated evidence should immediately be made accessible to the public.
Last night’s attack on Gezi Park and those in solidarity is a warning that the government is not only incapable of doing its job but has even turned against its own people. The mayor of Istanbul suspended public transport services .This in itself is proof of the animosity of the government against its own people and the lengths the government will go to.
We will never give up these humane and righteous demands. We demand that the Gezi Park remain a public park, and those who took life with police violence must be put on trial, we demand the prohibition of tear gas and plastic bullets against peaceful demonstrations and we demand that any obstacle to the rights of people to assemble and have their voices heard be removed starting with Taksim Square.
These demands of Taksim Solidarity have become the demands of the people since the very first day. The anger of our citizens were inflamed in response to the government not taking any steps towards fulfilling these demands. Our priorities are the acknowledgement of the unambiguous reaction of people, their voice being heard and their expectations being met. We demand that the police violence against the people cease immediately. Today at 4 PM, we will gather to commemorate our friends who have lost their lives at the hands of the police violence ordered by the government in Taksim Square. Each and every demonstration and ceremony we have organized has been peaceful and non-violent. The violence is state violence commanded by the government towards its own citizens. The atmosphere of the protest prior to the interference of the police has been unified and peaceful.
The attack last night and the terror which followed against hundreds of thousands of the people who are out in the streets of Istanbul and the whole country must stop immediately. The funeral of Ethem Sarısülük, who was killed in Ankara by a police bullet, has to be respected.
TAKSIM SOLIDARITY
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Nous ne trouvons plus nos mots. Mais nous savons que notre pays ne mérite pas une telle violence
Par ce communiqué, nous formulons tous nos vœux de succès à tous les lycéens en train de passer l’épreuve du bac et nos meilleurs vœux pour la fête des pères. A la source des troubles et des inquiétudes de toute une société se tiennent les dirigeants de ce pays recherchant la confrontation politique dans la polarisation sociale.
Hier, le gouvernement a opéré une attaque policière très violente alors qu’il n’y avait aucune manifestation sur la Place Taksim et que le Parc Gezi demeurait ce lieu d’un rassemblement pacifiste oeuvrant pour le dialogue. Ceux qui nous objecteront que notre défense du Parc et de la Vie est un prétexte, confirment, avec leurs agissements d’hier soir, que le gouvernement AKP lui-même se saisit du Parc Gezi comme un prétexte. Réaliser des attaques policières, à chaque occasion, sous prétexte de rassemblements dans un jardin, démontre que le véritable objectif du gouvernement est d’intimider la population et d’exercer la coercition au point d’étouffer toutes les voix d’opposition revendiquant des droits.
D’après nos informations, le nombre d’hospitalisation de de blessés s’élève à 150. Des centaines de personnes qui n’ont pas pu s’y rendre ont été privés de soins médicaux. En dépit de toutes les déclarations de la Préfecture dépourvue désormais de toute crédibilité, nos concitoyens gravement blessés se trouvent dans les unités de soins intensifs. Il est question de blessures aux balles en caoutchouc. Les infirmeries de fortune ont été ravagées, les hôpitaux ont été attaqués par les canons à eau, en même temps qu’étaient saisis les masques à gaz, les médicaments et le matériel de soins médicaux utilisés par nos concitoyens pour leur seule défense. Les composants chimiques de l’eau à forte pression qui a provoqué de fortes réactions cutanées allergiques inédites n’ont toujours pas été déclarés par les autorités.
Le gouvernement a commis un crime contre l’humanité
De nombreuses personnes ont été placées en garde à vue. Les effets personnels des occupants du Parc Gezi ont été saisis par la police. La presse a été interdite d’entrée sur le terrain de l’attaque policière, pour couvrir ainsi les preuves de la violence. Les numéros d’immatriculation des casques des policiers ont été dissimulés. Cela témoigne de la volonté du Premier Ministre de poursuivre dans la voie d’une forte agressivité, déjà observée lors des pourparlers, et relayée désormais par les forces de police et leurs crimes. Il détruit ainsi toute voie de dialogue. Ceux qui sont maintenus en garde à vue doivent être immédiatement relâchés.
Le Parc Gezi et la Place Taksim doivent être ouverts à la population ainsi que toutes les preuves doivent être rendues publiques
L’attaque contre le Parc Gezi et les attaques continues contre notre peuple durant la nuit du 15 au 16 juin, démontrent que le gouvernement actuel n’arrive plus à gouverner le pays, n’assume pas ses responsabilités et menace la population civile. Tout au long de la nuit, le Maire métropolitain d’Istanbul a stoppé tous les transports en commun, ce qui révèle la gravité de l’attaque. Nous observons que le gouvernement témoigne de l’hostilité envers sa population.
Nous ne ferons aucune concession sur nos revendications humaines et justes. Le Parc Gezi doit rester un parc, ceux qui assassinent par la violence policière doivent être démis de leurs fonctions et poursuivis en justice, l’utilisation des gaz lacrymogènes et des balles en caoutchouc doit être interdite et les obstacles à l’affirmation des revendications de liberté de nos concitoyens doivent être levés, notamment sur la Place Taksim et dans toutes les grandes villes de Turquie. Ces revendications ne sont plus uniquement celles de la Solidarité pour Taksim mais elles appartiennent à des millions de citoyens. Le mépris pour ces revendications a suscité de la révolte chez nos concitoyens. La priorité est de prendre en compte la réaction populaire, d’entendre l’appel du peuple, de satisfaire ses demandes. Nous demandons la cessation des violences que l’on fait subir à la population civile.
Aujourd’hui à 16h, nous organisons sur la Place Taksim, un rassemblement de commémoration pour les citoyens tombés sous les coups de la violence du gouvernement contre son peuple. Toutes nos manifestations et cérémonies sont entièrement pacifistes, sans violence. La violence est voulue au contraire par le gouvernement et son intention d’attaquer la population civile. Tous les terrains où il n’y a aucune intervention policière, sont en paix et demeurent fraternels. De ce fait, les attaques de la nuit du 15 au 16 juin et la terreur exercée sur des centaines de milliers de citoyens descendus dans les rues pour revendiquer leur liberté et leurs droits, doivent immédiatement cesser. La cérémonie des funérailles de Ethem Sarısülük, tué par une balle de police, doit être respectée.
Le soulèvement populaire qui grossit ses rangs depuis 20 jours ne peut cesser qu’avec un changement radical de politique du gouvernement. Son attitude agressive, débutée par la décision de déraciner les arbres du Parc Gezi et ressemble à une provocation à la vie et aux libertés du peuple doit cesser. L’apaisement n’est possible que par un retour sur les décisions au sujet du Parc Gezi et la fin des menaces sur la vie et l’intégrité des citoyens.
Nous appelons à la solidarité, les peuples du monde entier, les institutions nationales et internationales, au nom de la cessation des violences contre notre peuple et en soutien à nos revendications.
The officials who promised to keep Gezi as a park until the end of the court case have turned Gezi Park, Istanbul and our country into a war zone.
We condemn the police assault with rubber bullets, intense teargas and sound bombs on Gezi Park at a time where the park was populated with women, children and the elderly in the evening of the 15th of June and declare this a crime against humanity.
The attacks are continuing around Taksim and neighbouring areas and the whole country.
The infirmaries at Gezi Park and the Divan Hotel have been specific targets of this assault whose intense violence could not even be justified in times of war. Protesters from all areas of Istanbul are walking towards Taksim against government violence. There are protests all over the country.
As we speak we are trying to ascertain numbers in the current assault. The declarations by the governor or police chief are far from convincing. Many people are in police custody and hundreds have been wounded by plastic bullets. Many people cannot reach hospitals.
These attacks have taken place following the meetings our representatives had with the PM and while we were having an open and democratic discussion as to how the process would be shaped from here on in. The attacks have taken place when we had been working on how to reorganise ourselves in the park and at a time where there were no protests whatsoever in Taksim Square. This is a clear indication that the intention of the PM is to intensify polarisation in Turkey and oppress the people with his insatiable lust for authority.
Our decision making processes are open to everyone and we will be following up on our humane and fair demands together with our labour unions, democratic organisations, political parties and our volunteer participants.
We were in the process of reorganising our tents at Gezi Park when the assault took place. Despite this process which had already been conveyed to MPs by artists and other MPs, the violence is an indication that public order has been destroyed by the government itself in our country.
Here are the urgent calls from Taksim Solidarity:
This violent attack by the police forces has to stop immediately. The government is solely responsible for what happens tonight and tomorrow.
The press should publicise our declarations and protect our people from the misinformation of a government at war with its own people.
We are very concerned about those who ended up wounded as a result of this harsh police intervention. Volunteering medics have been stopped from attending to those in need. Ambulance and other public health services should immediately be re-instated.
Tens of thousands of people are walking to Taksim from everywhere in Istanbul. Their voices must be heard.
TAKSİM SOLIDARITY
* * *
16 Juin 2013, 01:20 du matin
Sans même attendre la décision des juges, les dirigeants qui avaient promis de préserver le parc de Gezi ont brutalement transformé le parc de Gezi, Istanbul et le pays entier en un champ de bataille!
Nous réprouvons la rafle organisée par les forces de l’ordre au soir du 15 juin dans le parc de Gezi et déclarons que l’attaque faite aux femmes, enfants et personnes âgées lorsqu’elles se trouvaient dans le parc à l’aide de balles en plastique, de gaz intense et de bombes sonores est de l’ordre du crime contre l’humanité.
Les attaques continuent à l’heure qu’il est sur la place de Taksim et ses alentours ainsi que dans tout le pays.
Durant l’attaque organisée contre le parc de Gezi, même les dispensaires du parc et de l’hôtel de Divan ont été attaqués dans des conditions d’une violence extrême qu’on ne pourrait voir en temps de guerre. Le peuple du pays et de tous les quartiers d’Istanbul se révolte contre cette attaque du gouvernement et marche vers Taksim.
Nous essayons de faire le bilan des blessés en ce moment. Les annonces faites par le préfet et le chef de la police ne sont pas dignes de confiance à cause de tant de mensonges répétés. Nous ne pouvons pour l’instant dénombrer que les garde-à-vue et les centaines de blessés dont nous avons eu l’information par une source directe. Il y a certainement des dizaines de personnes blessées par des balles en plastique et qui ne peuvent se rendre à l’hôpital.
Suivant l’entretien entre les représentants de Solidarité pour Taksim et le Premier Ministre, les attaques ont commencé alors que les éléments constituants de Solidarité pour Taksim étaient en discussion démocratique et ouverte pour décider de la suite de l’action. Alors que nous étions en train d’essayer de planifier notre présence organisée dans le parc, et tandis qu’il n’y avait aucune manifestation sur la place de Taksim, cette attaque a eu lieu et elle prouve bien que l’intention du Premier Ministre est de créer une polarisation sociale du pays et de satisfaire ses ambitions autoritaires en écrasant son peuple.
Car, en tant que Solidarité pour Taksim, dans notre processus décisionnel ouvert à tous et alimenté par des groupes reconnus et légaux de travailleurs/de corps de métiers, de blocs démocratiques communs, de partis politiques et de toutes personnes volontaires, nous avions formellement déclarer notre ambition de poursuivre nos demandes justes et humanitaires. Au même moment, nous étions occupés à organiser nos tentes et notre forme de séjour au parc de Gezi. Cet état des choses montre bien que l’attaque faite alors que notre situation était officiellement annoncée par le biais d’artistes et de députés aux autorités publiques est une tentative de détérioration de l’ordre public du pays organisée par le pouvoir politique lui-même.
En tant que Solidarité pour Taksim, nous lançons un appel urgent :
Les forces de l’ordre doivent arrêter cette attaque sauvage. Les évènements qui s’en suivront cette nuit et demain résultent entièrement de la responsabilité du pouvoir politique.
Les organes de presse doivent nous aider à communiquer nos déclarations au peuple, ils doivent protéger le public de la désinformation organisée par le pouvoir politique.
Nous sommes inquiets de la situation sanitaire des citoyens blessés lors de l’intervention violente de la police. Les obstructions faites aux médecins bénévoles doivent prendre fin, les institutions publiques de santé doivent être renforcées, à commencer par le SAMU.
Des dizaines de milliers de personnes marchent de tous les quartiers d’Istanbul pour rejoindre Taksim. Il n’est pas envisageable de stopper ces manifestations populaires.
Our resistance that began with the intention to stop the slaughter of Gezi Park’s trees went beyond the park’s borders and joined the anger felt by the people in Istanbul and across Turkey against JDP government’s 11 year rule. Millions of people on the streets completed 18 days of resistance without giving up on their legitimacy and creativity.
This resistance, which takes its place in history as the biggest struggle for rights that our country has ever witnessed, has been the target of intense police violence since the first day. We are in a process where all human rights, including the right to live, are being trampled on. But this attitude has enlarged the crowds rather than dispersing them, has strengthened the solidarity among people who got to know each other in this struggle, has filled the streets where gas bombs suffocated all living creatures to stand against violence, has united the resistance.
At first, the government ignored the clear and legitimate demands put forward at the outset of the resistance. Then they tried to divide, provoke, and delegitimize the resistance. But these efforts failed as they drew public opinion reactions from our country and across the world.
As a consequence of this violence over the course of these 18 days, 4 fellow countrymen, Ethem Sarısülük, Mehmet Ayvalıtaş, Abdullah Cömert, and Mustafa Sarı lost their lives. Many citizens were injured and lost their sight, hearing, and extremities. We feel the pain of the lives’ lost in our hearts and remind that they were killed while demanding basic human rights. We once again express the fact that a serious investigation of the responsible parties has not commenced and that we will follow through until those responsible are held accountable for this violence in front of the law. Furthermore, many people are still being held in custody because of arbitrary detainments. As Taksim Solidarity, we demand the immediate release of all citizens who are detained and arrested for their participation in the resistance and the demonstrations across Turkey.
In this process, we have seen that we can unite in the richness of our differences, discuss, join, and strive together despite the politics of violence. Millions of people claimed their freedom by defending their trees against the economic rent and ecological destruction that this government rose on and sustained their non-violent stance as a space for freedom against violence.
After Gezi Park demonstrations, the country has now “woken up to a new day.”
Fostering this struggle, not ending it, is a prerequisite. The struggle’s massiveness, creative intelligence, legal legitimacy, femininity, and youthfulness have ensured its success till today and are the guarantees for the next steps.
A top-down management and action through orders are not options for a social movement that has changed the fate of this country with its determination and upright stance in a climate where allegiance is forced upon everyone. This sensitivity must go forward through forums and assessment meetings and by accepting differing opinions as richness.
All democratic mechanisms are important and valuable but it is also significant that all persons and institutions who contribute to this solidarity must act with historical consciousness and take into account the solidarity’s accumulations and gains.
This is why the real agenda of all Taksim Solidarity constituents on 15 June 2013 is the demands that wehave persistently put forth since the first day. The insistence on following through with these demands is also an effort to diffuse the authoritarian climate in which our fellow countrymen live.
To those who ask us what we plan on doing: we are not leaving Gezi Park, which has now become a symbol. We, all those who labored, will decide on the next steps and on how we will stay in Gezi Park- government spokesmen declared “Gezi Park will remain a park until the court’s ruling.” We will strengthen our solidarity through democratic discussions and assessment mechanisms in line with today’s gains.
Persevering against police violence which blocked entrance to Gezi Park and resisting for days on the streets, the role resisters played cannot be underestimated and there is nothing more natural than them showing this with their own colors. But in a broad assessment, what has emerged from discussion platforms is the inclination that the park stay should continue within the umbrella of “Taksim Solidarity” and that the channels for all persons, institutions, parties, and initiatives to express themselves be created.
In the 18th day of our resistance, on Saturday 15 June, as Taksim Solidarity, we continue to guard our park and our lives for all the living creatures, our park, our city, our trees, our living spaces, our privacy, our freedom, and our future. We continue to follow through with our demands. We will not be quiet until the people who gave the orders for violence and who caused our 4 fellow countrymen’s death are brought to trial. This resistance will be a unified foundation for the reflection of Taksim Solidarity’s collective will and cooperative struggle. From today onwards, with the dynamism of our struggle across our country and the world, we will continue our solidarity against all injustices in our country.
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING, CONTINUE THE STRUGGLE!
Our friend, our brother, Taksim resistor Ethem Sarısülük, will be bid farewell to eternity with a memorial taking place where he was shot, in Kızılay Square.
In the first week of the Taksim Gezi Park resistance, on June 1st,
Ethem Sarısülük was shot and wounded in the head by a police bullet while supporting the demonstrations in Ankara’s Kızılay Square. He struggled to stay alive for 14 days but succumbed at noon yesterday.
Ethem Sarısülük is our third friend who has become a victim to police brutality since May 27.
As Taksim Solidarity, we call on all Taksim resistors across Turkey to remember and to say farewell to Ethem.
Our friend Ethem’s funeral procession will begin where he was shot. We expect respect for our loss and pain
Taksim Solidarity generated this announcement through meetings and forums that took long hours till the early morning.
Our resistance that started in order to prevent the demolition of Gezi Park and save its trees has spread to Istanbul and to the entire country with the anger of thousands of citizens accumulated over the 11 years of AKP rule. Hundreds of people completed the 18th day of the resistance.
We witness a resistance, the most expansive struggle to claim our rights in the history of our country, which has been exposed to intense police violence since day one. We are going through a period in which the rights of people, including right to life, are trodden. However, this cruelty have united the crowds instead of disintegrating them, has strengthened the solidarity of the people who get to know each other through this struggle. Under heavy gas bombardment, which suffocated every living being, more and more people filled the streets and turned this resistance into a major social movement.
The government’s fist reaction towards the crystal clear and righteous demands, which have been voiced since the very first day of the resistance was to ignore them entirely. Then, they attempted to divide the resistance, provoke people and damage the legitimacy of the movement. In both national and international public opinion, the government has failed in these attempts. At the end of the day, it was the legitimacy of the government, not the resistance, that eroded. Therefore, with the pressure of our righteous resistance, the AKP government was pushed to address the solidarity and start a dialogue. Nonetheless, this is just the beginning, our struggle continues.
During the first 18 days of the resistance four citizens lost their lives due to police violence: Ethem Sarısülük, Mehmet Ayvalıtaş, Abdullah Cömert and Mustafa Sarı. Many were wounded, lost their eyes, vision, and even limbs. We feel the pain of those who were killed and remember that they were killed in pursuit of their most basic democratic rights. We repeat that no serious legal action has yet been taken against those who perpetrated and oversaw the actions that lead to the killing of our friends, and we restate that we will make sure those who are responsible for the violence are brought to justice. Furthermore, many people are still in custody due to the arbitrary policies of the security forces concerning custody durations. On behalf of the people resisting in Gezi Park and Taksim Solidarity, we call for the release of those who were taken into custody because of their involvement in the uprisings across the country.
During this time we have seen that we were able to unite, converse, create commons, and struggle together despite the violence inflicted upon us. What was considered to be the weakness of pluralist democracy allowed us to stand tall in resistance against majoritarianism. Against the government’s power, which is dependent on capital and ecological destruction, hundreds of thousands gathered in Gezi Park to defend the trees and thus defended their own lives and freedoms. The Gezi Park Resistance as a space of freedom has shown great resolve in keeping a peaceful conduct against police violence.
As people resisting in Gezi Park and Taksim Solidarity the most important thing we have learned so far is that the resistance cannot be contained within time or space, and that it will continue in every aspect of life, in every part of the city and the country, in every square meter and every moment.
On the 18th day of our resistance, on Saturday June 15th, we will continue our occupation for the park and all the living creatures within it, our trees, our life spaces, our private lives, our freedoms, and our future. We will pursue this struggle until our demands are met.
This resistance will be the reflection of the collective will of Taksim Solidarity and a symbol of our comprehensive struggle. From this day forward, we will continue to fight against all kinds of injustice and suffering in our country with the dynamism and strength generated by our struggle which has spread across the country and perhaps the world. We are stronger, more organized and more hopeful than we were 18 days ago.
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING, RESISTANCE WILL CONTINUE!
All the decisions made so far by Taksim Solidarity involved all of its constituents and the participation of the people. Tonight, upon the Prime Minister’s invitation, the demands that we have been voicing for days in the streets and squares of Turkey have been delivered one more time by our friends. The next decisions about the process will be taken altogether, as it has always been done.
Our friends will share more detailed information about the meeting once they return to Taksim.
The artists and intellectuals, PM Erdogan invited this evening, demanded Taksim Solidarity to attend the meeting as well, stating that a committee without representatives of Taksim Solidarity would not be legitimate. Upon this demand, a group of representatives was formed urgently.
The committee consists of our representatives from Taksim Solidarity; Tayfun Kahraman, Derya Karadağ, Eyüp Muhcu, Ali Çerkezoğlu, Beyza Metin, Canan Çalağan, Arzu Çerkezoğlu and Cem Tüzün; also artists and intellectuals such as Yavuz Bingol, Nebil Özgentürk, Sunay Akın, Ceyda Düvenci, Halit Ergenç, Ali Sunal and Mahsun Kırmızıgül.
“Basic rights and freedoms cannot be held to voting. A person’s human rights and liberties, a society’s, a people’s freedom of life, of faith cannot be held to a referendum”
-Recep Tayyip Erdogan, December 1st, 2009. AKP Group Meeting.
Within the framework of our Constitution and international agreements of which our country is also a signatory, it is perfectly clear that the right to live within a healthy environment and demands of fundamental liberties cannot be made subjects of a referendum by any means. The solidarity process that has become identified with Gezi Park we are living through today, is a social expression of these rights and demands.
That is the reason why we are saying, one more time, that “the fulfillment of our demands” is the government’s duty towards the citizen under normal legal circumstances. Besides, the court has decided to stop the execution of the said project. The Solidarity is only insisting on reminding the government of this duty.
In that sense, we see and would like to see the government’s leave of a language of intimidation and start of a discussion on a “referendum” instead of police raids, gas bombs and pressured water as a step and promise to stop new deaths. However, we regret to observe that the language of intimidation ensues in the statements made by the government spokespeople and the PM.
These statements make obvious that “referendum” is an empty term that cannot be meaningfully filled. In addition, it has become clear with the statements of the Head of the State Council and the PM that the referendum on this issue does not have legal quality. That is why we repeat that the real agenda is taking concrete steps towards our demands rather than the feasibility of the referendum or its exact implementation.
As a part of these steps, upon the complaints on the processes, Turkish Ombudsman Institute consulted Taksim Solidarity within their investigation. In addition, they stated that individual applications would also be accepted.
The conflict between the ones who claim their park and their right to life and the ones who favor concretization should not be transformed into a conflict between the ones who refuse referendum and the ones favor it. It should be realized that an atmosphere of political parties calling for demonstrations in favor of the referendum and the society is being antagonized is extremely dangerous.
Not a single person came to the Gezi Park with this demand or expectation in their minds. None among the thousands of young people or women, who have been staying in tents and gassed at 5 AM, have pursued such a purpose. Hundred thousands of people did not fill the Gezi Park and the Taksim Square for days just to hear this word. The attacks, which resulted in deaths and over a thousand injuries, did not take place in order to have a referendum. In the face of the attacks, when people spill out into the streets in 77 cities all around the country crying out “Don’t touch the youth, we want freedom”, referendum was never on the agenda.
The demands and the expectations of the squares are crystal clear, simple, humane, legal and legitimate…
The warning of the European Parliament regarding the legality of these expectations is very clear. Any step towards the fulfillment of the demands is extremely valuable and should be considered with great caution.
An investigation and deposal of the officials responsible for the police violence would be a much more realistic and easy first step serving the societal peace.
Therefore, we expect first from the government and then from all the other officials to dedicate their energies and authority to intensify on other solutions, which would not antagonize the society. Instead of initiating ambiguous and dilatory processes that would result into differentiation, we want quick and consequent steps to be taken.
We hope that a dialog can be initiated recognizing “TAKSIM SOLIDARITY” that reflects the feelings of thousands of our citizens and addresses the demands that people speak up in every square. We call each and every democratic institution; artist, intellectual and the media continue to contribute the resistance in order to take serious steps towards the realization of people’s demands.
With all these motives, as we have been sitting in the park from the very first day, we will be here with our songs, with our books and poems; with our sleeping bags and mates and with our DEMANDS.
WE are HERE, as we have been for 17 days!
We continue to defend our life, our basic rights of life
As TAKSIM SOLIDARITY, we want to announce that none of our representatives have been invited and none will be participating to the meetings that will be held with Prime Minister. No meeting, while the police violence disregarding right to life so relentlessly continues in and around the Gezi Park, will produce results.
As the citizens of Turkey follow closely, a committee of representatives from Taksim Solidarity have met Deputy PM Bülent Arınç and conveyed the demands to the government through him in June 5, 2013. From this date on, there has been no statement regarding the demands, which were articulated.
As we have stated before, we once again claim our demands:
- Taksim Gezi Park will not be re-developed under the name of Artillery Barracks or any other project; an official statement on the cancellation of the current project is made; the attempts to demolish Ataturk Cultural Centre stop,
- Every responsible agent for the thousands of injured people and three deaths, starting with the Governors and the Police Chiefs of Istanbul, Ankara, Adana and Hatay and everyone who prevented the use of the most basic democratic rights of the people; who gave orders for violent repression, enforced or implemented these orders are dismissed from their posts The use of tear gas bombs and other similar materials is prohibited,
- Detained citizens who attended the resistance across the country are immediately released and an official statement which declares that there will not be any investigation about them,
- Starting with Taksim and Kizilay squares, all the meeting and demonstration bans effecting all of our squares and public areas and all the de facto blockings are abolished and stopped and barriers to freedom of expression are removed.
Being supported from all corners of our country and the world, our demands are incontestably legitimate. We will insistently pursue our demands that by no means are refutable in juridical terms. Our demands are legally beyond dispute in regard of the international, universal law criteria, which are also the bounding criteria for the lawsuits we have filed so far.
Not only in the Gezi Park, but also in many places in Istanbul and the Turkey the resistance continues. We call the citizens of Turkey to Taksim, Gezi Park at 7 PM in order to claim their demands with us.