Revolt spreads in Turkey

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ANKARA—“This is just the beginning, the struggle will continue!” This is the slogan now echoing through the streets and parks of Istanbul, Ankara, and many other Turkish cities.

As we reported in last month’s Socialist Action, the anti-government riot that was a response to the po­ lice brutality against those protesting redevelopment plans for Istanbul’s Taksim Square and Gezi Park on May 31 continues to grow. The protests have spread around Turkey as millions of people protest against Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s authoritarian, neo-liberal AKP (Justice and Development Party) regime.

After a fierce struggle with the police, the people forced the cops out of the square and the park. Gezi Park became a meeting and living place for some 20,000 protesters—a temporary peoples’ commune.

Riot police stormed Taksim Square and neighbor­ ing Gezi Park with water cannons and tear gas as they drove protesters out on June 15 and June 16. Erdoğan, it seemed, had hoped to end the protests as he or­ dered the police to attack innocent people. However, his move backfired.

As protesters evacuated the area, the movement spread to many other parks in major cities, where people meet to discuss ways to go forward. Most sig­ nificantly, thousands gathered at Abbasağa Park, and currently, thousands of people gather in public parks each day at around 9 p.m. to make plans democrati­ cally for future protests and marches.

Meanwhile, one brave man, Erdem Gündüz, stood still in Taksim Square. This quickly became a new form of protest. Many join Gündüz in Taksim Square, and in many places across Turkey, standing silently still, just staring ahead. This act of civil resistance paralyzed the police. They know how to shout “Freeze, police.” But they are at a loss when it comes to suppressing “frozen” protesters.

More importantly, the street demonstrations con­ tinue. For example, hundreds of thousands gather in Istanbul, Ankara, and many other cities, denouncing the release of a police officer who many believe delib­ erately shot in the head Ethem Sarısülük, a 26-yearold industrial worker during the Gezi Park protests in Ankara on June 1. torture. Erdoğan wants to convey to the imperialist powers: “I am still the boss. Trust me. Only I am ca­ pable of doing what you want in the region.” However, if the people’s determination continues, the AKP gov­ ernment has no future, and that would be a huge blow to imperialist plans in the Middle East.

Although the government is heading towards a huge crisis, the popular movement still lacks leadership. Organized labour’s participation is unsatisfactory, to say the least. The protesters, especially the younger ones, do not have any faith in the political parties and their leaders. This causes them to turn away from the existing organizations. They raise demands for “hori­ zontality,” “no party flags and banners,” and “nonpartyism.” Instead of forming independent labour and youth organizations, they rely on spontaneity. A central task for all socialists is to raise awareness that only with structured people’s democratic organiza­ tions, and only with revolutionary socialist parties, can bourgeois rule be overthrown.

The protests in Turkey are imbued with an interna­ tionalist spirit. They were influenced by their sisters and brothers in Egypt and Tunisia. Now their protests inspire the ones in Brazil, and even in nearby Bosnia and Bulgaria. Another key task is to transform this in­ ternationalist sentiment into acts of concrete interna­ tional solidarity. n