A long arc of newspapers was laid down on Istiklal Caddesi last night for iftar. As you can see the congregants didn't seem like the conservative fasting types. As much as everything these daily public dinners seem to be a way for Gezi protesters to congregate/show their numbers in public with less fear of police attack--as it would of course look bad on TV if cops were gassing and water cannoning people for observing Ramadan. It reminds me a bit of non-religious Iranians chanting Allah-u Akbar from their rooftops in 2009.
Not 100 feet further down the road a Korean group was gather to sing and dance what seemed (I couldn't understand all the lyrics though they were singing in English) to be Jesus songs.
And just past the Koreans, his and hers Rottweilers.
As they cleared up their picnic fast breakers chanted Gezi Park movement slogans. The woman on the left angrily confronted them, saying they shouldn't mix Ramadan and politics.
the newspaper dinner is fascinating! is this entirely new?
ReplyDeleteSeems it's been going on since the beginning of Ramadan: http://webtv.hurriyet.com.tr/20/52011/0/1/istiklal-caddesi-nde-iftar-sofrasi.aspx
ReplyDelete"Everywhere is Taksim, everywhere resistance" is what they're chanting. Taksim Square is where the Gezi protests were held once the park was closed and where a lot of the police violence occurred.
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