After a series of peaceful demonstrations for preserving a recreational area in Istanbul… … Turkish police attacked the protesters violently with tear gas and water cannon, directly targeting their faces and bodies… … Turkish media, directly controlled by the government or have business and political ties with it, refuse to cover the incidents. Press agencies have also blocked the information flow.
Please share this message for the world to become aware of the police state created by AKP of Recep Tayyip Erdogan [the Turkish Prime Minister]…
— Leaftlet handed out at the Turkish protest in London
A sizeable gathering of the Turkish community had rallied in Trafalgar Square yesterday, following a protest earlier at the Turkish embassy. Their message: that London stands with those in Taksim. If I were to pick my favourite types of groups to photograph at a rally, it would be those communities that are bonded over a common nationality, religion, or language. It is at these assemblies that you can really feel the passion, sincerity and should I say earnest desperation of the people. They take up banners out of a true love of the thing that gives strength to their fight, the perceived homogeneity lending a palpable weight to the occasion. Although one could expect the same of protests focused on other causes like climate change or anti-war campaigns, the potpourri (and mostly proletarian-student) backgrounds of the supporters disperses any sense of gravitas. In fact, one gets the feeling that many of them are just out for a picnic (or a fight).
Curious, I asked a young girl who was waving the Turkish flag if she knew what was going on. She did. In her confident answer she said that ‘in her country’ they were protesting against the building of developing a park into a new shopping mall, that the police had been attacking people, that they want a better government. Impressive! And she was no more than twelve or thirteen years’ old, by my estimation. Her parents nodded and looked on proudly.
Another memorable exchange involved Elif Sonmez, a Turkish reporter (Niepce Services), who intercepted me and asked if I was a photojournalist. We had a little conversation about the events and she solicited my views on the situation in Turkey, even wanting to do a video interview – which I had to politely decline. However I did offer a written paragraph of my thoughts. What was unexpected was that she then asked if I was willing to help her take some photographs of the protest, handing me her own Nikon DSLR, as she explained that she was busy at her laptop and couldn’t get away from the spot! Humoured by her trust, I took her SD card instead and snapped a few frames using my own camera. Working from London, she has been actively running her own ‘free press’ on Facebook and via some Turkish publications. Through her broadcasts, she has also helped draw interest to my set on the freelance photojournalism agency Demotix’s website.
My set made it (briefly) to the front page of Demotix