Category Archives: Turkish Controversies

#Duranadam ve #Durankadın: The Karagöz puppets stand in silent protest

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20130618-110825.jpgLast night at approximately 8 PM Istanbul time, a single man began standing, silently, knapsack at his side in Taksim Square. He stood this way, as I understand it without speaking, for a number of hours. Soon, people understood that this was an act of civil disobedience related to current events in Turkey.

Like wildfire, the best possible wildfire, the hashtagged term #DuranAdam (Meaning “standing man”) was born and people were standing silently in the middle of the night all over Turkey – and indeed in many other parts of the world. Obviously, this quickly spreading example of civil disobedience was powered by the best of what social media can do.

20130618-110832.jpgOf course, today, there is an article in one of the English-language Turkish newspapers explaining that the Turkish government is working to create a law restricting the use of social media as it relates to protest organization.

When M. came home, I told him about what was going on – and he finally succumbed to acknowledging the utility of Twitter – and began using it. Eventually, on Twitter, we saw others gather silently around the original standing man – then we saw them form a human chain around him.

20130618-110811.jpgNow, given that this blog IS after all about cross-cultural marriage and the joys and challenges that come with that – let me digress for a moment. As an avid activist on Twitter, I began to tweet standing man support and solidarity messages – including writing “standing woman” in Turkish – #DuranKadın. M. corrected me – “In Turkey, we would just say ‘adam’ (pronounced ‘ah-dahm” meaning ‘man’) to mean all. You don’t need to write kadın.” I hate to admit that I heard this comment in a bit of a snide tone. Much of this comes from the constant correction I ask from him now as I am learning Turkish in earnest via Rosetta Stone. I am sure that part of his response comes from the genderless aspects of the Turkish language- but that is a Turklish issue for another day. In any case – I told him that as a feminist – it was important to me that gendered language be used. This type of language issue has been parsed and parsed again here in the US, but the Turkish culture (as I see it) and the Turkish feminist movement (again as I see it) are just beginning to parse this issue. It was a little hard to acknowledge that my extremely egalitarian husband was still stuck in this small way…I wrote #Durankadın anyway. I note that others have adopted using both terms today, both in Turkey and in the Turkish-American world – a good sign for an iota of feminist awareness. I’m sure we’ll now have A LOT to discuss at home tonight given this post.

20130618-110853.jpgIn any case, back to last night, as we monitored Twitter, as none of this was being reported on mainstream media, we saw the police buses come and begin to arrest everyone but the standing man. The police had announced that they would arrest anyone but the standing man. As one person was arrested, another would step forward from the crowd and take his or her place. This went on and on. You can read about what happened here. These arrests just feel so ridiculous – yet hopeful that now the world will see how crazy Prime Minister Erdoğan And his administration has become.

20130618-110818.jpgAt one point, the original standing man appeared to us to be briefly detained and then released. And eventually, a statement was released from him indicating that his quiet nonviolent protest was in response to the lack of Turkish media coverage of the four people who have died during the brutal police crackdown on peaceful protesters during the #OccupyGezi movement.

After weeks of heartache in watching what it has been happening in Turkey, we joined another Turkish-American family for dinner – and through the night, we watched more and more examples of “standing men”and “standing women” all over Turkey. As we turned on the satellite Turkish news to the one station most likely to show anything related to the protest – our humor was dark – “how many have been arrested so far?” we asked, giggling. The events of the past two weeks have been so traumatic for all of us, that we have taken to black humor in order to cope.

By the time I woke this morning, I saw the great lines of all our shoes lined up in pairs around the apartment in and between all of the Karagöz oyunları.

I immediately realized that my puppets were standing men and standing women too – hoping that this new protest might do some cosmic good as they are only the fictitious puppets of
my imaginary mental world.

In lining up the many pairs of shoes in our house, they were following the example of one standing man in the notoriously protest oriented neighborhood of Beşiktaş In Istanbul. I have included a picture of this man here who stands, silently, surrounded by empty pairs of shoes, presumably representing the 400 or so disappeared Turkish protesters counted thus far.

Although I am sick these days, and although I overdid it yesterday by going out, and cannot stand still for long because of my pain, my heart and soul are with the standing people – And today’s standing men and standing women protest in Boston’s Copley Square. And it is with great sadness that I monitor social media this morning, seeing many standing men and standing women being arrested all over Turkey by plainclothes policeman.

At least the true colors of the AKP Are finally showing in the world media – but more importantly the true colors of the Turkish people are also showing and showing strongly.

The puppets are still standing.

#DurenAdam

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#DİREN TÜRKİYE! 12 hours of devastation…and resilience

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Child suffering from gas exposure being brought into makeshift infirmary in the Divan Hotel, June 15, 2013 (Photo by Yannis Behrakis of Reuters)

For the past twelve hours, we (me, occasionally M. who can barely stand it, and the entire Karagoz puppet troupe that inhabits my head during this cross-cultural marriage) have been glued to the Internet in order to understand what we can of the exceptionally brutal crackdown on the Gezi Parkı protesters in Istanbul – and of course on the many protesters around Turkey whose stories are not being covered.

We have seen the EU Turkish Minister explain that all who go to Taksim Square/Gezi Parkı will be treated as “terrorists.” Hacivad Bey the Sufi elder puppet lets out a distinctive sigh of shock at this statement.

We have seen photos and live feed of children, elders and families engaging in peaceful protest in Gezi Parkı. Soon after, we heard reports of police warnings amplified over the crowd, suggesting that children and elders leave the park, as it was about to be cleared. The protesters resisted by chanting slogans back at the police. Esma the hippie puppet chants along with them whenever we can get a live feed.

We have seen a sudden police action circa 8 p.m. involving water canons laced with chemicals from the TOMA (Panzers) and yet again scads of tear gas. We have seen photos and videos of people writhing in pain, people vomiting, people with great red welts, horrified children who cannot breathe and their terrified parents. We have seen great clouds of tear and/or pepper and/or vomit gas hovering over most of the city – even miles from Taksim Square. Even Karagoz, the oppositional trickster cannot speak about this.

We have seen protestors taking cover in the Divan Hotel, a fancy hotel where in the past, I often stopped to buy fistikli lokum - they make the best in the city – for my father, who loved it. We usually had a glass of Çay on the terrace before we left. We have seen that hotel turn itself into a shelter for protestors – and into a voluntary infirmary. We have seen police fire tear or pepper gas into that hotel – and to storm that hotel. Now, at 5 a.m. Istanbul time, we see those peaceful protestors sleeping on the carpet in the lobby of that hotel – afraid to leave as the police have threatened to arrest all who do so. Zenne, the nervous nelly like a glass of quivering quince jelly puppet, wrings her hands in anxiety at this.

We have seen the TOMA (Panzers) shoot the same chemical-laced water on people attempting to enter Istanbul’s Aleman Hastanesi (German Hospital), thwarting their attempts to obtain help. Celebi, the modern lover puppet, can only cover his eyes.

We have seen M.’s home street, Sıraselviler Caddesi bombarded with tear gas, bashed up by anarchist protestors – the lunatic fringe perhaps – still trying to fight the police. (Archers of Okcular, I welcome debate/opinion on that one). The chorus of little dancing ladies begin banging their pots and pans again at this.

June 15, 2013 arrests in Istanbul (Image from Europeans Against the Political System’s Facebook Page)

We have seen increased protest, arrests and fighting and resistance to police brutality in M.’s 80 year-old Aunt’s neighborhood, Şişli and so many other areas. So far, she is fine, she has lived through a lot, but we are still worried about her. Kenne, the Queen of Manners, demands that we call her at 5 a.m. her time to make sure she is safe, but M. nixes this idea and hopes that she is sleeping.

We have telephoned, Facebooked, Tweeted and Skyped friends who express the same range of emotions – devastation, anger, sadness, frustration, confusion, anxiety – and in the end, resilience.

In the last conversation of the night, I asked my very dear friend about her day. Mostly, she said, it was punctuated by fear about not knowing the location of one of her three sons for too many hours. When I asked her whether people buying her (truly delicious) Börek at one of her Börek Online franchises (still open and ready for business) she said “yes, business was good.” Continuing, I asked whether her customers spoke of what was going on – she stopped and thought. I watched her face for a while on our fuzzy Skype connection as silent but long deep tears appeared to slide down her face. She was tired, but more sad than tired. Finally, she said “no, we didn’t, we have to keep it like normal. We have to pretend like normal, or we go crazy.”

At this, the whole troupe of Karagoz puppets weep.

And while it is not normal to experience any of the horrors described above (Börek excluded), our only wish tonight is for the people of Turkey to find their inner resilience and to keep on going as they seek to find some balance and some peace between all parties.

Turks crossing one of the two bridges that span the Bosphorus Strait – from Asia to Europe (Image from Europeans Against the Political System’s Facebook Page)

And just when I thought that I could not look at Twitter one more time tonight or my heart would break, I did, and I began to see reports and photographs from trusted friends of thousands of people crossing from the Asian side of Istanbul, across one of the city’s two continent-spanning bridges, to support the protestors in Taksim.

And with that, the puppets begin a never-ending whisper of a chat as we try to sleep – #DirenTurkiye!

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Taksim Square and #OccupyGezi: Of birds and bees, dogs and trees

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20130614-120335.jpg

The left-hand side of this photo shows peaceful protestors helping a dog who is suffering from pepper or tear spray – the right-hand image needs no caption. (Author of image unknown)

We have heard much about the peaceful protesters (a.k.a. “çapulcular“) who have gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim Square – and some about the non-peaceful protesters (who many postulate are actually police working undercover as protestors, and we agree based on photos we have seen as paranoid as that sounds). Much of what we have learned about what is happening has come from friends on Twitter.

Image of Istanbul dog in gas mask from Buzz Feed – click photo for link to original

As I scrolled through my Twitter feed the other night, I saw increasing numbers of reports from people living in the areas around Gezi Parkı - Taksim, Cihangir and Gümüşsuyu - about dead birds, bees, cats and dogs on the streets – apparently dead as a result of intense exposure to tear and/or pepper gas. Heartbreaking.

Perhaps as a result of Esma the hippie puppet’s Star Trek-like transport into the thick of the protests on the first day two weeks ago – and perhaps as a result of Esma herself being glued to my Twitter feed along with me, she has asked me to talk about the animals today.  Remember, Esma, the hippie puppet with a heart of idealistic and sometimes altruistic gold has a deep and sweet concern for all living beings.

Here is Esma, the hippie puppet - sans her usual rose petal dress - image from Karagoz.com

Here is Esma, the hippie puppet – sans her usual rose petal dress – image from Karagoz.com

When I awoke today, I noticed that the Esma had staged a sit in all around my head on the pillows – and had convinced all of the puppets to join her.  It is a rare show of unity among the rag-tag band of Karagöz Oyunlari who are known for their spats and indeed sometimes their puppet battles when differences between them erupt into whirling dervish swirls of mixed color and language.  So, the first words I heard this morning were a chorus of:

“hey hey, ho ho, NO blogs on animals have got to go!”

As soon as she saw that I was somewhat awake (which has relative meaning given the hardcore pain medicine I currently have to take while awaiting my next surgery) she began to read her proclamation.

“We, the unified and determined Karagöz Oyunlari demand that you, M’lady, write a blog post about the birds, the bees, the dogs and the trees over in Gezi Parkı and environs.  If you do not comply with this respectfully submitted demand, we will a) no longer deliver tea to you each morning in bed, b) no longer advise you on matters cross-cultural, c) no longer whisper the answers into your ears when you are struggling with Rosetta Stone Turkish and d) generally wreak havoc.”  

Well, I was in a position – but I reminded them that I would have written about the animals anyway.  I understood the birds, the bees and the dogs – but the trees? I was quick to be educated that Esma, you see, believes that trees are sentient beings, something I believe she learned after reading the entire Chronicles of Narnia and/or watching one too many Lord of the Rings movie on cable TV.  Who knows, maybe she is right.  In any case…let’s get on with it so the puppets will let me out of bed.

The trees in Gezi Parki were really the tip of the iceberg - or the straw that broke the camel's back about things a large segment of Turks were frustrated about. Image source unknown.

The trees in Gezi Parki were really the tip of the iceberg – or the straw that broke the camel’s back about things a large segment of Turks were frustrated about. Image source unknown.

Let’s start backwards from how today’s post is ordered – let’s start with the trees – we have heard a lot about the trees in Gezi Parkı, of course.  They are the straw that broke the camel’s back vis-a-vis this spontaneous Turkish people‘s uprising.  There are relatively few trees in Gezi Parkı - and trees are a lovely commodity in a city with so few.  It is often the trees – or more correctly the lack of the trees – that get M. so steamed as we drive around Istanbul. Last year, as we took a taxi over to see his Aunt, Teyze B., he bemoaned all the areas that used to have trees while he was growing up.

“What kind of government allows such unchecked development – and I’m not talking about the gecekondu on the outskirts of the city – I’m talking about here, right here in the city.  I could NEVER live in this city again – the Istanbul that I know is lost.”

Image from the collection of Liz Cameron's M.

Two young Istanbullus playing in Gezi Park, circa 1962.  Image from the collection of Liz Cameron’s M.

This sentiment, perhaps, is a part of what brought those very quiet and almost invisible tears to his eyes the other day as he emerged from rummaging around in the basement with a cherished photo of Gezi Parkı, where he was playing with his brother in a toy airplane – in roughly 1962 or so.  That Prime Minister Erdogan would just wipe out one of the few remaining parks in the city, well, it was just too much.  Too much for M.  Too much for Esma.  Too much for the Istanbullus – and indeed too much for the people of the Turkish Cumhurriyet.

Karagoz was quicker than my Turkish economist friend in checking out the Prime Minister's math - he says "483 trees per day, 24-7 for 365 days for each of 11 years? (Image by Liz Cameron)

Karagoz was quicker than my Turkish economist friend in checking out the Prime Minister’s math – he says “483 trees per day, 24-7 for 365 days for each of 11 years? (Image by Liz Cameron)

What has been perhaps most humorous about the whole tree issue in these protests are the responses from the Prime Minister himself.  He keeps insisting that over the last 11 years, his party has planted 2 billion trees across Turkey.  As a Turkish economist friend quickly calculated, this is quite a statement (see Karagöz’ photo with the calculations here).  As much as I hate to admit it, I do have to point out that one of my favorite agent provocateurs over in Okcular, Turkiye, environmentalist activist extraordinaire HAS reported on major tree planting efforts in some areas…so in an effort to be balanced, there you go.

A protestor and his beloved dog resting in Gezi Park between, presumably, peace attacks.

A protestor and his beloved dog resting in Gezi Park between, presumably, peace attacks. (Source unknown)

Well, let’s move on to the dogs. When I began spending time in Turkey, ten years ago, I saw many stray dogs – and few dogs as pets.  I have noticed an increase in dogs as pets as the years have gone by.  While many expats in Turkey have championed the cause of caring for street animals (thank you Ayak’s Turkish Delight who led me to this organization, Far from the Sticks and Adventures in Ankara), what many may not know is that Istanbul does quite well, these days anyway, with tagging stray dogs for annual vaccinations – and many feed the dogs on a daily basis. It may not be Blue Ribbon dog food – but they are being fed.

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BL3P4GlCEAAFDCp.jpg

Image of dog cursing “son of a bitch Tayyip” from Buzzfeed

As we have watched recent events unfold in Turkey, I had not thought much about the dogs – but as I was scrolling through my Twitter feed last night, I came across a friend’s post about a Veterinarian near the Italian Hospital who was remaining open to treat dogs hurt by the 19 hours worth of tear gas that the Istanbul police let fly on Wednesday night.  As people in love with our own beloved rescue dog, the images we have seen of dogs in and around Taksim Square and Gezi Parkı have broken our heart – and we include some of those images here. In general, we hope that the dogs have had the good sense to run as far as possible from the gassed area – and that they will be alright.  (Esma the hippie puppet emits an empathetic moan at this sentence).

Collage image of dogs in Gezi Parki from One News UK (click link for source)

Well, that leads us to the bees.  I am sure that there are not many bees in Istanbul, given the lack of flowers and trees (see lack of tree rant, above).  We do know that there is an international bee emergency – and that much of what is sold as honey in Turkey and worldwide has been found to have little to no pollen in it…instead replaced with the dreaded corn syrup.  We are sure any bees left in Taksim are dead anyway.

Author of this image is unknown.

Author of this image is unknown.

…and that leads us to the birds…and the FB posting that made me start crying today – of a dumpster full of dead birds in and around Taksim Square and Gezi Parkı in Istanbul, Turkey – dead as a result of excessive tear and pepper gas bombing over the last two weeks. I’m not sure M. would be as bereft about the birds as he would be about the trees.  As a child, it was always the Istanbullu pigeons that made his father aware of all the daily wrongdoings he had done before getting a punishment.  Still.  What of the chain of life?  As The Archers of Okcular reminded us on FB today, there was a reason that the Geneva Convention banned the use of gas on people. :(

Well, now that I near the end of today’s rant – the puppets are slowly making their way off the sit-in bed and heading out to get some cay brewing.  Esma kisses my hand and places it on her forehead (something Turks with manners do to honor an elder) and says “Thank you, M’lady. May this current Turkish crisis end soon.  May the animals return.  May the Turkish environmental movement flourish more than it already is – and Namaste.”

(And to my dear friends who have encouraged me not to be such an obsessive perfectionist in favor of health, I have left mistakes in this post in the form of not putting all of the proper Turkish characters where they should be because I am just too sick – and because the point I want to get across has been made – and because this is just good ENOUGH.)
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