Meet Taksim/Gezi activists in Brussels - the truth about Gezi

 

Sunday afternoon the 10th of November...

In Brussels at Sazz & Jazz (Rue Royale 241 in Brussels) at 13h30, with guests from Istanbul. The debate is in English and Turkish.
Organized by Gezi Solidarity in cooperation with Masereelfonds, Vrede, Socialisme 21 and other progressist or Leftist networks.

introduction + conversations with..
Sevil Turan: spokeswoman of the Turkish Greens and Future Left Party / activist
Ahmet Atil Asici: economist / activist
Ozlem Barin: member of Socialism 21/ eye witness of Gezi protests

visuals/readers

moderators: Rafa Grinfeld & Duran Kutlu

When interesting protests started in Brazil recently, one of the most popular slogans was “This is Taksim, this is resistance”. When trade unions in Brussels where protesting against the employers unions, they found their inspiration in  the “standing man” action from Taksim. And even more recently at the University of Bologna, students named their occupation “Taksim is here, resistance is here”...

What made Taksim square protests so popular around the globe ? How come so many different groups (religious people, LBGT people, nationalists, Greens, Leftists,… ) found themselves united in Taksim Solidarity ( about 150 groups) ? What was unique about the “Taksim Commune”?

Most known about Taksim is of course the police brutality against a peaceful group. Less known is the attitude of the major TV stations, who ignored the protests. One of them preferred to broadcast a documentary on penguins instead of showing the protests! The creativity and the humor of the protesters was remarkable. They responded instantly in a humoristic way to all of the accusations of the government. To the accusation “Where were they (protesters) with their demand for freedom when it was forbidden to wear a scarf ?”, the response was “at the crèche”…

Occupy gezi was initially about keeping one of the last parks as a park. Soon it became an essential part of a demand for more freedom and a democracy  version 2.0, supported by millions of people and echoing worldwide.

Agenda:

13:30  Özlem Barin: Gezi Introduction & Women at Gezi
14:00 Ahmed Atil Asici: Economics of Gezi Park & Impact of "biggest" projects like 3rd Bridge/Airport/Kanal Istanbul
14:30 Sevil Turan: Gezi experience: gas, resistance & Taksim solidarity

15:00 Debate
17:00 Wrap up & Next steps