Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

Gezi Park - Istanbul

Here's the full version of Ekümenopolis (with english subs) about the neo-liberal redevelopment of Istanbul under the AKP and Mayor Topbaş. I believe this film was really popular in The city last year or the year before. Description here.



The IMDB description is a bit...wet.

"Ecumenopolis: City Without Limits" tells the story of Istanbul and other Mega-Cities on a neo-liberal course to destruction. It follows the story of a migrant family from the demolition of their neighborhood to their on-going struggle for housing rights. The film takes a look at the city on a macro level and through the eyes of experts, going from the tops of mushrooming skyscrapers to the depths of the railway tunnel under the Bosphorous strait; from the historic neighborhoods in the south to the forests in the north; from isolated islands of poverty to the villas of the rich. It's an Istanbul going from 15 million to 30 million. It's an Istanbul going from 2 million cars to 8 million. It's the Istanbul of the future that will soon engulf the entire region. It's an Istanbul nobody has ever seen before
Click to expand...
 
AKP supporters in Rize face down mostly (though not all) middle-class staunchly secularist anti-clericalist ADD (Kemalists). Rize is the PM's home region, mostly rural, new roads built new investment so government is popular there. Several hundred people armed with clubs have attacked the small group of protestors and chased them fighting back into their office - with police standing by watching, now police conducting a waiting game with the half-injured Kemalists inside and a large crowd chanting 'may arms/hands raised against the police be broken' waiting for them to come out to finish the job.

Twitter arrests are genuine only one TV station covered it properly, some lying that these people were connected with a terrorist group and terrorist message, most ignoring it altogether.

Police attack strikers in Ankara very heavily again today, small attacks on any kind of crowd in some regions.
 
Ankara rallies have taken on opposition to plans to cut down Ataturk forest - fertile ground for nationalists.

David Harvey in a destroyed area of Istanbul not far from the Taksim Square.


The flip side of the massive edge cities in Ecumenopolis.
 
This is the kind of monstrosity being visited over the city:

itower2.jpg


Big battle over that little spot of green and who should have access to it - to the tower residents or everyone.
Bomonti, Istanbul.
 
More gas tonight:

BMBmF4ICEAA7H2w.jpg


Gazi Mahallesi, Istanbul


Dersim Tunceli (non-Sunni, alevi) has seen an inordinate amount of police moved in from other regions there the protest is strongly against the construction of 22 (twenty two) new police stations in area that already has several hundreds for a total population of 80,000 people. Live bullets fired up in the air have I believe ended the protests early by allowing massive barricade removers to do their deeds, whilst people scattered.
 
I've been in Taksim and the park for a bit tonight. Every time I go, the park has changed. It's really really busy today. Loads more tents in the park. It's also increasingly organised. There's a library, plus I saw a human chain passing along supplies of water and food. Today is a religious day for Muslims and people are handing out traditional bread rings to everyone in the square. Protesters are also being asked not to drink alcohol and to behave very respectfully as the AKP are doing their best to paint us all as alcoholics and looters.

Sadly however, I've seen mob mentality in action. Mindless graffiti, someone smashing up a cashpoint, and then today, a crowd of people surrounding a Starbucks (one branch reportedly closed their doors to protesters on the first day of tear gas attacks), whistling and jeering the (few) customers, someone threw a flare or smoke bomb, all the customers left, branch turned its lights off, crowd cheered. Surely this isn't democracy? I've heard that this branch had been helping protesters. A number of other branches have been smashed up.
 
This is another two mass upper-class blocks close by called Anthill Rezidans (residence):

dsc0515mx.jpg


The property price inflation has been immense - these luxury appartments go for:


City Centre Apartments $ 631,000

Location: Istanbul , Istanbul , Turkey
Click to expand...



Property Description
Arthill Residence has a wide range of apartments, which can be furnished or unfurnished in various structures and sizes.One bedroom apartments vary between 86sqm and 95sqm. Two bedroom apartments are between 100sqm and 121sqm.

Arthill brings a very different and new dimension to the definition of luxury and comfort through its kitchens, each of one was furnished with the latest products of modern technology, and its wide windows which were designed as to sense the magnificent Istanbul silhouette and natural light reflections in all angles. Arthill Residence offers the very life that you imagine in the centre of Istanbul, through its very different residence apartments, which are of various sizes, locations and floors.

Sit back and relax
Enjoy the fitness & spa club, where you can enjoy peace and serenity away from the chaos of life, at any time you wishby choosing one of the wide range of alternatives provided by our therapists.

Use the on-site fitness centre and, accompanied with your personal trainer, enjoystate-of-the-art technology and design Life Fitness equipment and the personalised fitness programes.

Location Description Moments away from the historic old town, Taksim Square and the business districts.
Click to expand...

Similar things in Ankara - this was about 2 months ago:





Second is a report from Fox full of usual slanders police upholding law and then people being violent, then the government MP coming to resolve it all and reassure the residents being driven out of their homes, the government does what's right etc.
 
miss direct said:
Mindless graffiti, someone smashing up a cashpoint, and then today, a crowd of people surrounding a Starbucks (one branch reportedly closed their doors to protesters on the first day of tear gas attacks), whistling and jeering the (few) customers, someone threw a flare or smoke bomb, all the customers left, branch turned its lights off, crowd cheered. Surely this isn't democracy? I've heard that this branch had been helping protesters. A number of other branches have been smashed up.
Click to expand...

Yes it definitely closed its doors as has done on previous demonstrations in Taksim - there is a long history of it. Starbucks has been protested in these recent events - people clearing out customers from it here on Monday in a massive shopping mall called Kanyon:



Long history of Starbucks attacks on people - in 2011 there was an occupation when it wanted to open up a site in Bosphorus University and it eventually threatened police and mass arrests - still proescuted a student Metin Senyurt for a long while afterwards. Not surprising it should be protested against. Starbucks customers are unlikely to be the people they want to build bridges to - worth speaking to them though.
 
Oh I agree with boycotts and protests but found today's incident a bit disturbing...The branch in question had been giving out free drinks and letting protesters use their toilets and wi-fi.
The Taksim Square branch has already been taken over and is being used as a first aid centre.
 
miss direct said:
Sihhi, when you say Gazi Mh, do you mean Gaziosmanpasa (GOP)?
Click to expand...

Used to lie within Gaziosmanpasa now it is part of its own district Sultangazi - it's north of present day Gaziosmanpasa:-

Rubbish map but there we are:
sultangazi_haritasi_istanbul.jpg


Gazi Mahallesi covers a blob in the southern and central part of Sultangazi:- Esentepe (NOT the one near Gayrettepe), newly renamed 75 Yil, Zubeyde Hanim a few other places too. Scene of the police massacre of protesters protesting an earlier shooting by mafia types of a coffeehouse in 1995 etc.
 
This is amazing stuff! I've arrived a little bit late on this one, I've read the thread but haven't been looking at much news lately so that's all I've seen.

Can anyone recommend an article or a blog or something that would give me a good picture of what's been going on up to now and maybe a bit of background?
 
Here's the latest opinion polls:-

government AKP: %51.5
centre-left CHP: %20.6
neofascist MHP: %14
Kurdish nationalist BDP: %8.5

Turkey remains a ratio of 2:1 as right:'left' - AKP has swept up everything rightwing that is not from the nationalist far-right tradition, still trying to sweep them in aswell, but also trying to hold onto its Kurdish Sunni votes.
 
treelover said:
The Guardian and other media describes the CHP as 'centre left' if it isn't, that is one right wing country.
Click to expand...

Sorry tired sun slip - CHP is centre left.

All the other right and centre-right parties BBP, SP, HAS, DYP, DP have all been reduced to irrelevance.
 
A cleaner working in dersane college close to Kizilay dies of a heart attack brought on after constantly facing tear gas for the past couple of days. Picture here.

Main development seems to be fractures in the Taksim Gezi sit in itself - many left groups have abandoned it as the liberals take over, with their plans for a concert and extracting empty promises by negotiation before people are even released.

Media protest: Now do you understand why every Kurdish household needs two satellite dishes (ie one for self-censoring Turkish media, one for international satelite and ROJ TV)

BMF-UlTCQAE22XW.jpg
 
AKP local council leader in Adana:

BMGDKxPCEAAYRgi.jpg


"Dear Arab Alawite brothers in Adana, the government has understood your request and will do what's necessary. Now stop these protests. Shaving too much tarnishes the skin"

It's a subtle sectarian dig at the Alawites who don't have much of a tradition of religious beard-leaving.
 
TruXta said:
Is it the same area as where METU is at?
Click to expand...

I don't think so - this on the outskirts called the 'Ataturk forestry site' something like Epping Forest.

Part of it has already been eaten up.

The aim once the new presidential system is in place is to build a new kind of White House.

50d72337-6223-4dcb-a557-8465ecce0533.jpg
 
sihhi said:
I don't think so - this on the outskirts called the 'Ataturk forestry site' something like Epping Forest.

Part of it has already been eaten up.

The aim once the new presidential system is in place is to build a new kind of White House.

50d72337-6223-4dcb-a557-8465ecce0533.jpg
Click to expand...
I see. I visited METU about five-six years ago and was impressed by how much it looked like it was in the middle of the countryside despite being so close to the city centre.
 
TruXta said:
I see. I visited METU about five-six years ago and was impressed by how much it looked like it was in the middle of the countryside despite being so close to the city centre.
Click to expand...

That greenery I think is Ankara's 3rd major green space after the Ataturk forestry and Altinpark, it is called the ODTU/METU Forest, not sure though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

littlebabyjesus
35 dead in Istanbul nightclub attack
Replies
18
Views
990
geminisnake
geminisnake
Pickman's model
Istanbul Besiktas: Stadium blasts kills many people
Replies
5
Views
674
editor
editor
felixthecat
Planned dolphin park in St Lucia - please sign the petition!
2
Replies
32
Views
1K
twentythreedom
twentythreedom
tendril
Mass murders in terrorist attack on Istanbul's Ataturk airport
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
Ranbay
Ranbay
DaveCinzano
NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small
Replies
23
Views
2K
abe11825
abe11825
Back
Top Bottom