EcoLur
Unrests in regard with the site development in Gezi Park on Taksim Square, Istanbul, turned into a strong civic movement. It was planned to construct a huge shopping mall and a mosque in the park. On 28 May the ecologists started a sit-in on Taksim square. The police forced out protestors, which resulted in uprising of the unrests. As a result, five people were killed in the clashes with many people wounded. Turk film director, author and producer of documentaries Zeynep Güzel gave her comments in the interview with EcoLur.
EcoLur: How did environmental movement appear in Turkey and particularly what happened on Taksim square?
Zeynep Güzel: What happened on the square had started still several years ago. There were people who followed these movements like engineers, architects, NGOs and various people. Within recent 10 years the main focus in Turkey, particularly in Istanbul has been put on making the city a touristic and financial center. Many people opposed to it, because this conversion jeopardizes many natural resources and destroys them. Forests and rivers are destroyed, while processes are accelerated.
Istanbul is a big and different city, where various people arrive and seek for work, cultivate new territories for residence and all this is poorly organized. And naturally attention is paid to the need of conserving natural resources; there is also an issue of preserving cultural heritage. For example, the old cinema, which is destroyed, to construct a shopping mall, or the old railway station instead of which a hotel is constructed. There are many places in Bosporus Strait, which are closed to construct a hotel or a new moorage for ships. All this is so clear and evident that both the villagers and the public started raising this problem, speaking about the absence of professional approach: everything aims at developing capitalist system. Already it’s impossible to breathe in the city because of the transport.
Gezi Park was the last drop in the patience of the citizens, which didn’t want to accept unlawfulness. There were people who controlled the situation and held a peaceful demonstration in the support of green zones. But the government accepted it in the wrong way and the protesters were treated in a harsh manner. And it’s clear, that in reply the movement obtained wider scales.
EcoLur: But the political forces didn’t interfere in this protest, as the reaction of the authorities was inadequate. It was a public movement, and in any case, did the opposition try to make use of it?
Zeynep Güzel: It’s rather surprising that no opposition force used it for its purposes. Just people raised their voices against unfair treatment. Among protestors there were people who protected trees or green zones, but the attitude towards these people was the same. We were surprised that forest protectors deserved the same treatment.
EcoLur: What is the situation for now?
Zeynep Güzel: It’s already 10 days since I have left Istanbul. As far as I know people can easily go there, i.e. there is no fight right now. But now people from different regions gather and discuss questions connected with nature. They speak about trees, because they realized that ecology is not something nearby, but is connected with something bug and necessary, ecology is valued with the issues of poverty and society capitalization. They didn’t use to know the ecology is so important for them and they can discuss these problems.
July 17, 2013 at 15:22