On this day in 2013, Turkish protesters began occupying Gezi Park to oppose its demolition, an act with led to widespread protests and strikes with approximately 3,500,000 participants, 22 deaths, and more than 8,000 injuries.
The wave of civil unrest across Turkey began after the park occupation was violently evicted by police, who used to tear gas, pepper spray, and water cannons to try and break up the protests, injuring more than one hundred people and hospitalizing a journalist.
The protest quickly grew in size - by May 31st, 10,000 gathered in Istiklal Avenue. In June, the protests became national in scope and transcended any particular demographic or political ideology. Among the wide range of concerns brought by protesters were issues of freedom of the press, expression, and assembly, as well as the alleged political Islamist government’s erosion of Turkey’s secularism.
Millions of Turkish football fans, normally divided by intense sports rivalry, marched in unity against the government. Protesters displayed symbols the environmentalist movement, rainbow banners, depictions of Che Guevara, different trade unions, and the PKK and its leader Abdullah Öcalan.
On June 4th, Taksim Dayanışması (Taksim Solidarity) issued a set of demands that included the preservation of Gezi Park, an end to police violence, the right to freedom of assembly, and an end to the privatization of public spaces. Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç met the group on June 5th and rejected these demands.
Erdoğan blamed the protests on “internal traitors and external collaborators”, demonizing his political opposition as the former. Despite the popular mobilization, Erdoğan remained in power and no major concessions were won from the government.
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wdym that’s proper american car culture
Do Americans actually do this? I live in Ireland and while some people do drink and drive, there’s a strong culture against it and carpooling is common. I hate the whole “smug European thinking everything is better than USA” thing but am I actually allowed to be smug about this one?
I have no idea. I live in a city and don’t go to bars. I know there’s a concept of “designated driver” due to the transit inaccessibility of bars though.
200%. drunk driving is even Wyoming’s official sport
also Wisconsin’s
when i visited Wisconsin i got pulled over and when the police found out i was sober they watched me drink two
before they let me continue on my way
It’s pretty common actually.
Most of it is within a few miles on slower roads though. No one supports drinking and then getting on the highway. But a lot more people wouldn’t crucify you if you had 2-3 beers and drove the backroads home.
Americans absolutely do this. It’s not even uncommon. I’m in the Midwest so that might bias me in a certain direction but if people answered you honestly pretty much all who drink would say they have
Midwest, but even when I lived on the coast, I genuinely don’t know anybody who doesn’t do this. If you’re cross faded, then people will usually sleep or call an Uber, but five beers over a three hour visit? Single double-shot glass of whisky? I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t drive themselves home.