Saturday, June 1, 2013

The Sounds of Protest

I thought everything in Istanbul would be calming down since the riot police left Taksim Square late this afternoon, allowing the thousands of protesters to gather unimpeded in the square. But unfortunately, we're hearing on Twitter that the police have used (are still using?) water cannons and tear gas against protesters this evening in Besiktas. Which happens to be the municipality we live in, but that's cool. :(  Social networks indicate that protesters are heading to Besiktas now and that the police are trying to stop them from getting there. The prime minister's Istanbul office is over there (it was right across from where we were standing when we encountered the CHP parade this afternoon, in fact), and I am not sure if that has anything to do with it, either really or as an excuse. I think it's fair to say we can expect another day of chaos tomorrow.

We're safe and sound inside our apartment, and everything is fine in our immediate neighborhood. But I can hear the sounds of protest quite clearly -- honking horns, whistles and the banging of pots. Apparently it's what Turks do to show solidarity. Listen in:


These were the kinds of noises that woke me up in the middle of the night last night. It freaked me out in the seconds before I could figure out what was going on and that we weren't actually being attacked in our beds. :(

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