The battle to save the green hid much deeper reasons of the malcontent of Turkish civilians. It was the 31st of May when dozens of people gathered in Gezi Park, Istanbul, and protested against the government’s plan to demolish the park in order to build up a shopping centre.
However, the protests soon revealed a population which is highly disappointed by the government’s actions and the PM Tayyip Erdogan’s attempt to impose Muslim-orientated values on the secular state.
The Turkish citizen İnsanlik Hali - who addressed a letter to the world in which he explains the reasons of the protests and provides the account of the ongoing situation (widely ignored by the media in the first stage of its developments) – explains:
“They [the protesters] all gathered to prevent the demolition of something bigger than the park: The right to live as honorable citizens of this country. People who are marching to the center of Istanbul are demanding their right to live freely and receive justice, protection and respect from the State. They demand to be involved in the decision-making processes about the city they live in.”
