Giza Park built in 1931.
It's a cute little park, that was protected by its citizens this past summer.
Long story short... Newcomers to Istanbul, students, and people with very little money would sleep here. Then the government wanted to shut down the park to build a shopping mall.
Protestors brought tents to sleep in the park to protect it.
Mass media says that the protestors burnt down their own tents.. but we all know how the media can change a story. In fact, it was the police who did that at 5 am.
However, this was not the end.
The second time that the police intervened was by using pepper gas.
Unfortunately, six people died, as the police took the protestors away and closed the park.
(Diren means To Resist)
The most depressing part was how the prime minister gave a bonus to all of the police causing this harm... This was a huge ordeal in Taksim square, and I could go into much more detail, but I think it is better if I keep it short. Essentially, the police were attacking brutally and over reacting for what was actually happening. The protestors were peaceful. They were sleeping in the park, being with each other.
The media actually did not show the revolution in full... instead they showed a documentary about penguins. So the protestors decided to make the penguin their symbol, as well as the woman in red.
The three football teams in istanbul essentially hate each other, but they came together to protect all women so they they would not be attacked with pepper gas at point blank like the woman in red. People were brought even closer together, and maybe even felt safe once the football players decided to help. No one knew about any of this through the media... only through facebook and twitter...
You know.. there is so much harm done in this world, many without any reason.
The only ideology we have in common is being human. And to be human is to respect one another for the sole fact that they are also a human being, no matter if you agree or disagree with their beliefs.
Taksim Square.
Taksim means "to share."
The fountain in the water has water to share for all.
Home of many years of protesting.
Istiklal Street- the main shopping street in Istanbul.
Walking down this street is an experience in itself... People shoving into you trying to pass, people begging for money, kids running around, all while trying not to get run over by the tram that goes down the middle of the street.
This street holds so much culture for Turkey ! And the issue is that the government is trying to close down popular local coffee shops and bookstores to turn them into touristy hotels and into more consumerism businesses. But the thing is... If all of these fun local place are shut down to create more modern consumerism, then tourists won't want to come if they can find the same businesses back home.
"Who will come here when the soul of the city is lost."
Our next stop was the Museum of Innocence (Masumiyet Muzesi).
This museum was created with the book "Museum of Innocence" in 2012 by the author Orhan Pamuk. Essentially it is the story of a man who fell in love with a girl, and who decided to collect many items that reminded him of her... and that is the museum.
I actually thought the idea was very unique and interesting, and I have been trying to read the book (but we all know how time consuming school work can be... :P ). and yes, the book is actually a cliché stereotypical vision of love (as well as depicting Turkey as a global city), but who doesn't love a typical love story?
We then continued to walk around the back alleys around Istiklal street seeing many adorable places such as Cezayir Street and the Flower Arcade.
Cezayir Street: a small uphill street with shisha places and restaurants. It was a meeting point for intellectuals.
The Flower Arcade: A little niche filled with restaurants, but it earned its name because its a place where women would sell flowers.
Galata Tower- one of the oldest towers of the world as a lighthouse in 1348, built by Italians.
Then we walked down a smelly bridge where all of the men fished. Oh dear, it smelled so bad...
and then we needed to walk through a tunnel and through SO MANY PEOPLE to get to our boat ride. Now, when I say "so many people," I mean it was incredible how many people we needed to push past. And being a group of at 20 ish people trying to stick together also. We all held so tightly onto our bags, especially when we saw some kids trying to steal money from a man selling food. Incredible experience I must say.
Well, then we went on our beautiful, lovely, relaxing boat ride along the Bosphorous river. We had pomegranate or orange juice and beer. It was a great time spent with a whole bunch of new friends.
This is one reason why I love academic travel so much !
Hanging out with new people while experiencing and learning so much about other cultures.
~ Alexa
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